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Public houses are the largest catering market with total sales valued at £13.75bn in 1999. However, sales were virtually static in 1999, increasing by just 0.7 percent, and this was mainly due to a decrease in pub numbers and low price inflation. The distinction between pubs and other drinking establishments such as café bars and wine bars is becoming blurred and some consumers, particularly women and a younger clientele, are switching to these latter, more informal outlets. In a market that is growing only marginally, the larger branded pubs are taking market share from the smaller, unbranded outlets.

Drinks continue to take the largest share of pub sales but sales of alcoholic drinks are in decline. Many pubs have turned to food to offset the decline in drinks sales. In 1999, public house catering (including bar foods/snacks and pub restaurants) sales were £2.23bn, an increase of 3.7 percent on the previous year. If pub restaurants are excluded (as they have been included in the Restaurants section), pub food sales were £940m in 1999, an increase of 1.2 percent on 1998. Total food sales in pubs accounted for an estimated 16.2 percent of all pub revenues in 1999, compared with just 12.6 percent in 1995. This share is an average figure and in some larger pubs, where food is particularly important, food sales can account for as much as 40 percent of all sales.

Mergers and acquisitions have been regular occurrences in the pub sector in the last few years, as the larger pub owners have sold off packages of unwanted pubs while newer pub companies have expanded their portfolios. In 1999, for example, over 6,000 pubs changed hands. There has also been a decline in the number of pubs over the last decade. In 1990, there were an estimated 54,000 pubs but, by 1999, this number had fallen to 50,500. The ownership of these pubs is also changing regularly but, at the beginning of 2000, 33.7 percent were owned by brewers, 36.6 percent were owned by pub companies, and the remaining 29.7 percent were free houses.

Posted By: Cannydc, Jun 17, 14:51:44