Beer in the United Kingdom

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Non-alcoholic beer most dynamic overall, with premium products fastest growing in lager

Non/low alcohol beer was again the fastest-growing category in beer, continuing to record strong double-digit total volume growth in 2019. It continued to benefit from the health megatrend, with consumers drinking less during the week and also monitoring their intake of calories, especially millennials and Generation Z.

Standard ale declining as craft beer continues to post strong results

Standard ale is continuing its decline because of many consumers’ poor perception of the drink and its taste. However, craft beer continues to perform well, with craft drinkers keen to experiment and try new beers, acquiring a palette for IPAs and other hoppy dark ales.

AB Inbev maintains its leading position; two major UK brands bought by Asian companies

Ab Inbev continued to maintain its first position in beer on the back of strong social and environmental marketing efforts coupled with a discounted metal beverage can multipack strategy to drive growth. This is particularly true for three of its key brands, namely Stella Artois, which renewed its partnership with Water.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

On-trade volume sales of beer are expected to fall by 39% in 2020 in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to the 1% decline forecast for 2020 during research conducted in May 2019, ie before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within beer

While it might be expected that consumers could trade down in spirits and wine, as these categories have higher unit prices, they will not necessarily stop buying craft beers or premium lagers, despite any potential economic knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers are likely to either opt for quality over quantity, ie drinking less in quantity terms but better in quality terms, or to balance their “beer budgets” by buying some quality beers, as they have developed more sophisticated tastes in recent years with the rise of the craft beer trend, but also consuming some cheaper mainstream lager brands, as highlighted by the unexpected return to positive volume growth for economy lager in 2020.

Recovery and opportunities

At the height of the UK’s lockdown, e-commerce was seeing a surge in overall sales in general, and it is therefore safe to assume that alcoholic drinks were also part of this sales surge. In addition to the well-established delivery services of grocery retailers’ online sales, some small local breweries that traditionally supply the on-trade switched to canning their products and selling them via the internet.

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