The Goods UK: Something to stout about
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What’s in: this week’s trends
- Something to stout about: St Patrick’s Day delivered a serious boost to Britain’s pubs this week, with an expected 39m pints poured across the weekend. Guinness remains the undisputed leader, holding 84.7% of total stout category share and attracting over four million buyers a year, with some bar managers reporting sales up 30% year on year (The Grocer). Challenger brand Murphy’s is also making serious noise, racking up £10m in off-trade sales and 1,000% volume growth across the total trade since relaunching in the UK just last March (Daily Star).
- Gloss loss: Beauty is booming, growing four times faster than the UK economy, yet big names like Barry M, Malin + Goez and Beauty Bay have all crashed recently. On TikTok, a beauty product sells every single second on the platform, and savvy challenger brands are eating legacy retailers’ lunch by combining discovery and checkout in one addictive scroll, leaving brands that don’t adapt feeling lost (The Times).
- More than just a round: Social media is fast becoming the engine driving London’s booming immersive leisure scene, with brands like Activate targeting Gen Z where they spend their time. Already a Gen Z favourite with more than 750m social media views worldwide, Activate is opening its fifth London venue in just 16 months (Premier Hospitality). Hot on its heels, Rocket Room lands in Leicester Square this April, promising axe throwing, beer pong and classic cocktails above Market Place Food Hall (Secret London).
Cash or card: shopper behaviour
What’s in and out of our baskets right now? This week we’re discussing doodle dogs, destination diversions, and delicious delicacies.
- That’s going straight in my basket: From motorhomes to pet grooming, the latest additions to the ONS basket offers a snapshot of our changing tastes, trends and lifestyles. Health is steering the shopping trolley, with hummus, alcohol free beer and low-calorie non olive oil sprays joining the list, mirroring the increasing use of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Elsewhere, a surge in motorhome sales hints at early retirees hitting the open road, while the popularity of ‘doodle’ dogs is fuelling a boom in pet pampering beyond basic veterinary provision (The Times).
- Rerouting retreats: With travel warnings in place and flight disruptions across parts of the Middle East, holidaymakers are switching from Dubai and neighbouring countries to European and Atlantic destinations. Bookings to Portugal have jumped 42% in the two weeks to 13 March, followed by the Balearics (+40%) and Canaries (+16%), according to Thomas Cook. Meanwhile, Kuoni said bookings were up around a fifth for the Caribbean, 18% for Africa and 16% for Europe year-on-year, including a standout 55% surge for Italy (BBC).
- Crossing the line: The humble hot cross bun is getting a bold makeover as high street names like Costa Coffee stack theirs with bacon, cheddar and chilli jam, while bakery chain Cooplands serves up a bacon bap twist (Bakery Info). Aldi has also unveiled its new range featuring a cheesy spin on the classic. Once a tea time treat, the hot cross bun is being repositioned as a fully-fledged sandwich contender, tempting taste buds to swap sweet for savoury this Easter (Grocery Gazette).
Making moves: industry changes & innovation
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- Scanning the future: Traditional barcodes could soon be on the way out, as retailers including Tesco trial next-generation QR codes across selected products. The “2D barcodes” allow shoppers to access detailed product information, from allergens to expiry dates, while improving checkout reliability. The shift is backed by GS1, which is targeting industry-wide adoption by 2027, with major brands like Unilever and Procter & Gamble already on board. With 51% of shoppers having bought out-of-date food, costing £11.8bn annually, QR codes promise to cut waste, improve traceability and bring real-time product data to shoppers (The Telegraph).
- On the move: Pret a Manger is diversifying its formats, trialling its first-ever drive-thru with Motor Fuel Group alongside more experiential dine-in spaces and digital upgrades. With 260 locations already outside London and plans to double that footprint, the move signals a shift beyond city-centres (Restaurant). It taps into a wider trend, with Sandwich Sandwich launching a grab-and-go-only site in Broadgate, designed for speed and with ambitions to expand into travel hubs like airports and train stations (The Caterer).
- Staying in the loop: Retailers are stepping up efforts to tackle waste through more circular models, with The Perfume Shop and Harrods both doubling down on recycling initiatives. The Perfume Shop has joined the Great British Beauty Clean Up for a second year, responding to the 59 million perfume bottles discarded by UK households annually, with in-store recycling up 234% year-on-year and its refillable range growing 37% (Retail Sector). Meanwhile, Harrods has partnered with Traid to repurpose surplus fashion stock, embedding reuse and redistribution into its operations (Retail Gazette).
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