Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) & Pub Sector

Hangover for the drinks sector as pint sales go flat

The Irish Times – 02.06.2020

Some 24 million fewer pints of beer and cider were sold in the Republic in April compared with the same month last year as the Government’s lockdown caused pubs to remain shut. In the State’s first full month in lockdown, sales of alcohol plummeted and a rise in off-trade sales failed to make up for the decline due to the nationwide shutdown of pubs. Total sales fell 35.6 per cent in April compared with the same month last year, according to figures from data company Nielsen released by lobby group Drinks Ireland. There was a 58 per cent increase in the volume of beer and cider sold in the off-trade but overall sales were down 36 per cent due because virtually no sales were made in licensed venues. Drinks Ireland estimates that usually about 60 per cent of beer and cider sales are made in licensed venues.

Guinness partners with anyExcuse to launch online tools to help hospitality businesses with health and safety

Hospitality Ireland– 02.06.2020

Guinness has announced that it has partnered with anyExcuse to provide user-friendly health and safety tools to the wider hospitality industry across the island of Ireland free of charge for a six-month period.  AnyExcuse is an online platform that connects the hospitality trade and brands with consumers. AnyExcuse CEO Padraig Shanley stated, "As an Irish tech company in the hospitality industry, anyExcuse has been working hard to develop a solution for trade partners who must reconsider operations and logistics in their outlets.  "We see the future as a cashless one, with mobile table service being an integral part of the socialising experience. Bars and restaurants that introduce mobile table service will provide consumers with the ability to order from their table and will also limit interaction for both them and staff. Venues will also be able to facilitate social distancing and provide a safer workplace for staff."