Headlines September - October 2023

Dear customer…

The autumn edition of Headlines brings you a host of fantastic and exclusive deals to help you make the most of the incredible trading opportunities in September and October. It’s a bumper period of activity for the On Trade, with many key dates to prepare for. We have included category advice for Halloween on the 31st October, National Curry Week in October and the ever-popular Cask Ale Week between 21st September – 1st October. All brilliant opportunities to increase footfall and sales in your venues.

8 2

Autumn is of course a huge time for sport with the domestic football season getting into full swing. And there’s the eagerly awaited Rugby World Cup on the horizon in France which takes place between 8th September & 28th October with 48 matches played in nine venues across 10 host cities. All live on ITV, ITV4 and their streaming channel ITVX.

Take advantage of the great deals in this edition to convert interest and footfall into higher margins and increased profits. Make sure you let your customers know what your venue is doing

1 28 8 31

for the Rugby World Cup – get them in for the early games and they’ll make a habit of coming to you for the rest of the tournament. Display the schedule of fixtures prominently, drive up enthusiasm for the key fixtures and, above all, be prepared to cater for the bigger groups who will turn up to watch the action together.

Set your venue up for a profitable autumn with good planning and enjoy the key months of September and October with all the great deals from Headlines.

RUGBY WORLD CUP CASK ALE WEEK

2ND - 8TH OCTOBER 25TH ANNUAL

CELEBRATING THE RISING INDIAN RESTAURANT INDUSTRY AND SALUTING THE COUNTRY’S FAVOURITE CUISINE.

The nation's love affair with curry shows no signs of slowing and that’s what we’re celebrating with National Curry Week!

Why not join in to help raise money for poverty focussed charities? For example, designate a dish from your menu to donate £1 per plate sold.

You can download the official posters and social media assets to help you promote the week. WWW.NATIONALCURRYWEEK.CO.UK

OUR HOT TIPS...

A WEEKLY CURRY CLUB is a great way to boost mid-week trade. If you don't already run one, use Curry Week as your launch!

Increase your customers’ average spend and your gross profit by OFFERING A RANGE OF EXTRAS such as naan bread, poppadoms and potato/vegetable options. Run a special offer on ASIAN BEERS & CIDERS for the week.

If your venue is drinks led, think about adding a special range of Curry Week BAR SNACKS. You can even pre-buy these to make it easier. Make sure you offer VEGETARIAN, VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE options. Promote DRINK PAIRINGS with your curries and offer a special price if ordered together. The most popular pairing for curry is beer, but you can also pair well with wine.

Street food has increased in popularity over the last few years. Help your venue stand out with an interesting STREET FOOD MENU rather than a traditional curry offering.

Promote your offering on social media. Don’t forget to use #nationalcurryweek and post in local community groups to reach a wider customer base.

CURRY CLUB

JOIN US FOR EVERY TUESDAY

The official Curry Week charity.

Win With Wine This Autumn

PREMIUM

There are entry and world-class examples of almost every grape variety in the world. Be strategic and promote the quality perception of these varieties.

53% * Drink wine in pubs, bars, or restaurants at least once a week

70% of customers think pubs/bars DON’T provide enough information to help make informed decisions when ordering wine (43% for restaurants).

Consider getting more creative with wine menus. Maximise the ‘theatre’ that exists when ordering wine for greater potential.

Train your team to taste wine and talk about it in a language that they can relate to.

Focus on a service-based wine training approach. Target young drinkers as they are driving an increase in demand for wine.

Appeal to Millennials and even early 20s.

70% *

Say that choosing wine is one of the most enjoyable experiences of going out to pubs, bars, and restaurants

36% * Are drinking more wine now compared to 12 months ago

*KAM Hallgarten&Novem wines

SCORE BIG WITH THE

RUGBY WORLD CUP

8TH SEPTEMBER - 28TH OCTOBER

20 COUNTRIES • 48 MATCHES • 6 WEEKS

ALL HOME NATION GROUP MATCHES AT WEEKENDS!

GROUP MATCHES: 8TH SEPT - 8TH OCT

ENGLAND

England v Argentina - Sat 9th Sept, 20:00

England v Japan - Sun 17th Sept, 20:00

England v Chile - Sat 23rd Sept, 16:45

England v Samoa - Sat 7th Oct, 16:45

SCOTLAND

South Africa v Scotland - Sun 10th Sept, 16:45

Scotland v Tonga - Sun 24th Sept, 16:45

Scotland v Romania - Sat 30th Sept, 20:00

Ireland v Scotland - Sat 7th Oct, 20:00

WALES

Wales v Fiji - Sun 10th Sept, 20:00

Wales v Portugal - Sat 16th Sept, 16:45

Wales v Australia - Sun 24th Sept, 20:00

Wales v Georgia - Sat 7th Oct, 14:00

QUARTER-FINALS: 14TH & 15TH OCT - 16:00 & 20:00

SEMI-FINALS: 20TH & 21ST OCT - 20:00

For full fixtures, scan the QR code

BRONZE FINAL: 27TH OCT - 20:00

FINAL: 28TH OCT - 20:00

ITV has exclusive broadcasting rights - no special TV package is required!

Cask Ale Week coincides with the Rugby World Cup –capitalise on this by running a special ‘TRY’ offer on 3 x 1/3 pints of cask ales throughout the week.

Promote beers and other drinks in your range that are relevant to competing nations with special offers

Asahi Superdry is the Official Beer of the Rugby World Cup 2023! Now also available in 0.0%!

You could also create a themed menu for the tournament with some international dishes.

The Rugby World Cup is a great opportunity for you to boost sales and increase footfall – make your venue the go-to place for rugby fans to watch the action! The 2023 tournament is hosted by France, meaning the games are at great times for UK trade!

Get into the spirit this HALLOWEEN

FAMILY AFFAIR

Halloween presents huge potential to engage customers of all types - it’s no surprise that the event is popular with families, and outside of the late-night scene, venues can embrace this with child-friendly day time events and promotions.

SHAREABLE

Groups of friends generate the highest sales at Halloween so consider sharing buckets and pitchers and promote offers encouraging friends to get together at your venue.

DRESS TO IMPRESS

• Dress up your venue with cobwebs, pumpkins, and skeletons.

• Create some spooky sounds –include Halloween classics such as Ghostbusters, Highway to Hell, Monster Mash and, of course, Thriller!

• Run a fancy dress competition with a prize for the best costume. Make sure your staff are in fancy dress too!

SCREAM OUT LOUD

• Set up Facebook events.

• Post teasers of your décor and drinks on Instagram Stories.

• Use popular Halloween hashtags.

• Tag drinks brands in your posts.

• Encourage your customers to post pictures from your events.

SEASON FOR SPIRITS

Vodka, Tequila, Bourbon, and Rum see a substantial sales uplift over Halloween. Create your own Halloween-themed cocktails and mocktails, a spooktacular way to increase margins.

Get creative with your garnishes by using themed decorations – edible eyeballs, jelly spiders and plastic vampire teeth are a few to get you started!

CASK ALE WEEK

CELEBRATE BRITAIN’S NATIONAL DRINK

Cask Ale Week is a brilliant opportunity for On Trade venues to get involved and encourage your customers to try and promote real ale by organising events and activities throughout the week.

Formed in the early nineties by Cask Marque, Cask Ale Week is supported by the major trade organisations, brewers & pub groups as well as The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

To get involved, download resources from CASKALEWEEK.CO.UK

Ales are the oldest style of beers, with roots firmly in British history.

You could link your planned current events with Cask Ale Week to maximise publicity. You don’t have to be a Cask Marque member to take part.

A unique style of beer made with water, malted barley, hops and yeast - a living thing thanks to the fermenting yeast that remains in the barrel.

GREAT TRADITION * A TOP FERMENTER A PERFECT MATCH

Cask ale is more complex and fuller in body than lager.

UK”

Made with 100% natural ingredients, Greene King IPA is a pint people trust and recommend to friends**

THE PERFECT SERVE THE ORIGINAL ‘CRAFT BEER’

Cask conditions and settles in the pub, develops its true character and elegance and the iconic beer hand pull delivers the perfect pint.

Requiring that extra effort from brewing, delivery and maintaining in the pub cellar through to the final serve.

COMINGSOON!

It’s uniqueness and taste are ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE ON-TRADE!