Pavement licences for outdoor dining made permanent from 10th May 2022

A welcome boost for pub, restaurants and the UK’s drinks industry will be announced following the Queen’s Speech and ahead of summer.

The new legislation, which forms part of the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill, will allow hospitality businesses the opportunity to capitalise on the (hopefully) Great British summer weather and offer alfresco dining, as previously permitted during lockdown restrictions. This will provide many businesses with a new opportunity to capture passing footfall, with an aim of creating a “more continental culture that will bring Britain’s high streets and town centres to life again.”

In addition, pubs are also expected to be granted an extension to off-licenses that allow them to sell takeaway pints and meals.

In PROOF’s return to trade drink market research following the pandemic lockdowns, we listed ‘Winning the Garden” as one of the keys to success for both venues and brands as the restrictions lifted gradually and consumers were allowed to return to hospitality. Post pandemic, we continue to see outdoor occasions as a key component to healthy trade in the years to come, boosted by the prevalence of ’staycations’ to both city/town centres and also market towns and rural areas across the country.

Source: Big Hospitality, The Morning Advertiser, PROOF 2021 Consumer Research

Call for plastic pint cup ban 

A ‘Plastic Free Pint’ campaign has been backed in an open letter by cross-party MP’s and supported in a recent market research consumer poll; with 89% of circa 2000 UK based respondents agreeing with a ban on plastic pint cups to protect the environment and 75% stating the material also negatively affects the flavour and experience of enjoying beer.

The pandemic induced shift to outdoor drinking saw an increase in plastic cup serves across the UK. Despite a reduction since the legal requirement ending, the upcoming summer festival, sporting and events season will ramp up usage and resulting waste; the campaign highlighting the cups as rarely recycled – with 70% ending in landfill, or as the 6th most found item in Britain’s rivers and the 8th on our beaches.

Amid low recycling rates, there is a call for government to ban and a perception that the publican or event organiser should reduce deployment – although no completely viable alternative is currently available at scale. With recent PROOF panel research finding that 76% of respondents agree the responsibility lies with manufacturers to make environmentally friendly drinks; should the onus be on the sector and alcohol companies to help provide a solution?

For more on sustainability in the drinks industry, look out for PROOF’s upcoming report on the subject later this year.

Source: The Drinks Business, A Plastic Planet, PROOF panel research

Law to ensure staff keep tip money is dropped by govt. 

Plans for a new law previously announced in September proposed to make it illegal for businesses to keep any gratuity money given to hospitality staff by customers by way of debit and credit cards, have been dropped. The move that was set to benefit around two million hospitality workers was absent from the opening of parliament speech. Other policies in the proposed bill included more predictable contracts, greater allowance of flexible working options, an agency to help enforce workers’ rights and protection for pregnant employees.

In light of reports that staff are working on average an extra 6 hours a week more than pre-pandemic levels, plus 45% agreeing that they find their job less appealing than before, there are serious concerns that operators are facing a staff retention crisis.

Some venues are already focusing on staff retention and attracting new talent, with 79% of operators investing in increased staff pay in the last year. However, the government’s U-turn on the tips and working conditions bill has led to concerns that the hospitality work force crisis is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

Source: PROOF insight, Financial Times, Morning Advertiser, Propel, Big Hospitality

PORTOBELLO ROAD DISTILLERY LAUNCHES BRITISH ASPARAGUS VODKA
The latest spear thrown on the new flavour front, is the London-based distillery’s limited edition – only 600 bottles – of what it claims to be the world’s first vodka distilled with real asparagus. Inspired by Beaujolais Nouveau, which appears on the market on the third Thursday of November just weeks after fermentation, the makers wanted to capture the British asparagus season in a bottle.

Straight from a farm in Norfolk, the asparagus is steeped in British potato vodka for 24-hours before being bottled and released on to the drinks market. The resulting liquid is herbal and nutty, which the distillers recommend using as a base to revamp any negroni or martini. This new creation perfectly encapsulates two trends identified by PROOF Insight, firstly the growing preference for savoury cocktails and secondly the love of local with all the ingredients coming from a British farm. As the flavoured-vodka drinks brands continue to grow, having gained 0.5% volume share in 2021 according to CGA, we are likely to see many more innovative products such as this appear as drinks trends in the near future.

Contact PROOF Insight to learn about drinks market research, consumer trends and product innovations in the drinks industry.

Source: PROOF Insight, CGA, Portobello Road Distillery.

• NEW DRINKS PRODUCTS, INVESTMENTS, MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
  Lanchester Group invests £20 million in new self-powered bottling facility.
• Heineken invests £42 million to upgrade Heineken’s Star Pubs and Bars estate.
• Mr Foggs cocktail bar is to open its eighth site in Brook Street in Mayfair.
• Gleneagles Hotel to open a 33-bedroom Townhouse Hotel in the heart of Edinburgh. The new venture will offer modern brasserie dining, a central bar, members lounge, snug and roof terrace bar.
• Plans submitted to convert Birmingham’s Grade 2 listed Methodist Hall into a destination hospitality scheme with up to 150 hotel rooms and 8 bars and restaurants. The plans also hint at a 1,500-seat event space, two external terraces and a flagship rooftop restaurant.
• London Landlords Shaftesbury and Capital & Counties Properties (Capco) are in talks on a £3.5bn merger that would bring tourist hotspots Covent Garden and Soho under common ownership. While not confirmed, this merger would create a real estate investment portfolio of 1.8m sq ft of retail and hospitality space
• Campari Group has purchased flavoured liqueur brand Picon from Diageo for €119m
  Sources: Big Hospitality, Propel, Morning Advertiser