The solution for most pubs has been to increase and improve their food offering, “That’s pretty much how the majority of the industry is keeping afloat, by the food sales rather than the drinks,” Lucas said.
Not everyone in the beer industry is suffering though. The number of independent pubs is actually increasing, which has seen the rise of the micro-brewery directly supplying the beer to the pub. There are now more than 2000 breweries in the U.K. for the first time since the 1930s.
For the large pub groups, however, the outlook is not so rosy. Ei Group, the largest pub owner in the U.K., saw it’s pre-tax profits fall 68 percent at the beginning of last year.
