SmokeFree

The Publican reports on research carried out by themselves and Britvic which reveals that smokefree legislation offers a real opportunity to pubs to increase their profits, in the areas of both food and soft drinks.

Food is a key offering when it comes to cashing in on smokefree legislation, and the survey found that more than a third of people (37 per cent) said they would be more likely to eat in a pub once smoking is outlawed, rising to 51 per cent among non-smokers.

But the types of drinks customers choose to accompany their pub grub are perhaps more suprising. More than half (54 per cent) of all people questioned said they were more likely to have a soft drink with their pub meal - the same number as plumped for wine.

The figure puts soft drinks ahead of larger (at 26 per sent) and ale and stout (16 per cent), with spirits even less popular. Despite the renewed popularity of cider, only three per cent of people are likely to drink it with a pub meal.

The article suggests that there is a huge opportunity for pubs catering for families, with four out of ten families saying they would be more likely to bring children to pubs once the legislation is enforced. And what will they drink when they get there? More than half of parents (58 per cent) would buy their children pure juice, and 44 per cent would go for juice drinks.

Soft drinks usually offer licensees a higher margin than alcohol, and are already a leading player in pubs. According to the research, 30 per cent of people had a soft drink the last time they visited a pub, equalling the figure for wine and spirits. This is only likely to increase, along with pub profits, after 1 July.

Original article appeared in The Publican