So much for the British Treasury counting on beer taxes to help fund the recovery. The Independent:
Sales of beer in supermarkets and off-licences in the first quarter fell at their fastest rate since the recession of the early 1990s and were nearly double the rate of decline in pubs, as consumers cut back on supping their favourite tipple in their living-rooms.
The British Beer & Pub Association said that off-trade beer sales tumbled by 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. A BBPA spokesman said: "It is the biggest quarterly decline [in off-trade] sales since the last recession." It was also the first time since 2005 that the first-quarter sales in supermarkets and off-licences have been lower than the previous year, and the third consecutive quarter of falling sales.
The off-trade slump contributed to an 8.2 per cent decline in total beer sales – the highest decline in overall beer sales since 1997. On-trade sales in bars, restaurants and clubs also fell by 6.3 per cent – equal to 753,000 fewer pints every day – over the first three months of 2009. Overall, British consumers drank 1.7 million fewer pints every day than in the same period in 2008, the BBPA said.
