NEWS & VIEWS 16th May 2022
Good news stories are few and far between this week, but here’s one. The plan to make outdoor and pavement drinking and dining a permanent right for pubs was included in the Queen’s Speech this week. Each outdoor seat is estimated to be worth £6,000 in annual revenue.
The CGA’s Drinks Recovery Tracker reported that, while like for like drinks sales remain just above pre-COVID levels, this fails to take account of inflation. It also noted that beer sales are down 3%, with spirits showing 16% growth.
Matthew Curtis has a sobering, but well-reasoned article for Ferment which makes the case that we are inevitably going to witness a significant number of Brewery closures in the UK this year, driven mainly by supply chain cost pressures.
Finally, on the worrying news front, Good Beer Hunting has a long-form piece about the impact of climate change on the sensitive World of hop farming, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.
