As the leading food and drink agency we make it our business to stay ahead of foodservice market trends. One of the many ways we do this is via Lumina Intelligence. This week we attended their informative webinar on the pub and bar market. These are our top 10 take outs…

1) Positive – After a tough few year’s things are looking up, with the overall economy likely to grow at a rate of 2% in 25/26, as inflation falls and real wages improve, consumer confidence is up, reaching -13 (the highest since 2021). Across the market, food to go is still outperforming all other sectors as consumers seek value. Pubs have suffered from outlet decline but are still a large part of the market. As outlet closures are forecast to ease as trading continues to improve, and the large pub companies come to the end of their restructuring, things are starting to look more promising.
2) Government – However, the new government will make changes that are likely to impact the sector both positively and negatively. These include changes to staffing and employment legislation with the change to minimum wage age limits and the abolition of zero-hour contracts, the introduction of Skills England to try to reduce the skills gap, energy costs with the introduction of GB Energy and reformation of business rates to make them fairer to the hospitality sector and legislation around food waste and carbon footprints, not to mention public health with a focus on calorie and alcohol reduction.
4) Diversifying – We have seen pubs diversify into ‘Pubs with Rooms’ taking advantage of staycations and improved international tourism as well as the growing of a friendly market post Covid. The ones doing it well, like St Austell’s Brewery, are tastefully designed, integrate their food and drink offer, tend to be dog-friendly and offer special touches for guests, like a guaranteed table at dinner or a free glass of bubbles.
5) Outdoor space can be a huge draw for pubs, with one in ten consumers selecting a pub due to its outdoor space. Summer is of course the big opportunity but all-weather outdoor options including covered areas and pods (often designed for Covid times) can extend appeal throughout the year. Outdoor kitchens for hog roasts and BBQs and themed gardens like Heineken’s link up with Star Pubs & Bars can all help attract those consumers looking to socialise outdoors.
6) Compeitive socialising has long been a buzz word in the pub sector with interactive social experiences from darts to mini golf, axe throwing to skittles, driving growth for those operators who can embrace these kinds of activity. Boom Battle Bar and NQ64 are growing rapidly, whilst mainstream pub groups look to cash in on the trend with O’Neil’s introducing Arrowsmiths whilst Amber Taverns introduce dart boards in all pubs. Little wonder when pub consumers over index for being experience-led at 63.4% vs the market percentage of 60.8% with competitive socialising pubs attracting younger consumers and larger groups.
7) Experience is still a huge part of the sector’s draw and encouraging different consumer missions will be key to their success moving forward. Pubs are embracing everything from mini festivals to DJs, films, family fun days, sports events and live music to attract consumers as well as looking to tech to help engage with them whilst at the venue with loyalty apps and even DJ requests platforms.
8) Quality is now more important than value as consumer confidence improves, so pubs and bars need to focus on giving consumers a quality experience, from the food and drink to the ambiance and activities on offer.
9) Day parts in growth are dinner and drinks with an opportunity to drive different missions throughout the day with different consumer groups from remote workers to office lunches etc. This also links into the challenge to utilise different areas to help drive revenue in a variety of ways.
10) Drinking occasions with alcohol are up after a slump last year when consumers looked to tighten their purse strings. We’re now seeing a trade down from spirits and cocktails to beers but a shift to more quality beers. When drinking, overall consumers are drinking less and better which poses an opportunity for operators to become a destination venue with a range of high-quality beers.

As ever the session from Lumina was excellent and if you are interested in a deeper dive, they have a full market report available to purchase here. And if you are a brand looking to grow in pubs and bars do get in touch www.jellybeancreative.co.uk/foodservice-agency-contact-us/