Alcohol - beer & cider 2025: Hot summer not enough to revive lager

Lager has run out of luck. The sector has suffered declines despite the balmy summer. Litres are down by 39.9 million and major brands including Carling, San Miguel and Foster’s have recorded double-digit volume losses.

Like the wider beer & cider category, lager has “continued to face headwinds, with sales and household penetration declining amid low consumer confidence”, says Derya Calis, NIQ senior analytics executive.

Plus, an increase in minimum unit pricing in Scotland has hiked up prices, resulting in volume losses, she adds.

Mainstream and long-standing lager brands have suffered the most. The top 10 is worth £142.1m less and the three brands mentioned above have shed the most value.

In a bid to revive Foster’s fortunes, Heineken UK unveiled new-look packaging in May. That was followed in November by a cut in abv from 3.7% to 3.4%. The move would allow shoppers “to benefit from more competitive pricing as inflationary pressures continue to affect the wider market”, HUK said.

In much better shape is Foster’s stablemate Cruzcampo. The Spanish-style lager has almost doubled in value to £133.6m. Its success is down to “demand for more premium continental lagers that offer value for money”, says HUK off-trade director Jonathan Ford.

It’s a different story in ale & stout, where it’s demand for low & no-alcohol that continues to grow. Guinness Draught 0.0 is now the sector’s fourth-largest brand following a £14.3m gain. With annual sales of £50.6m, it’s now almost a third of the value of standard Guinness Draught. That trendy brew has added £6.1m.

Drinkers aren’t feeling quite so abstemious in cider. Some of the biggest gains have come from higher-abv lines like Knights Vintage, Crumpton Oaks and Thatchers Vintage.

In September, Vintage launched its first four-pack, which is “receiving huge interest from retailers”, says Thatchers head of off-trade Martyn Birks.

Interest in fruit cider, on the other hand, is waning. Sales of Strongbow Dark Fruits and Kopparberg’s two biggest-selling lines have tanked in both value and volumes.