Restaurant and Food Service Blog

The pubs in Britain are serving fewer drinks than ever. Publicans say that they are pulling 1.4 million pints a day – 1.6 million fewer than at the height of the market in 1979. The decline has been blamed on closures after the smoking ban, rising costs and competition from supermarkets.

With an economic downturn as well as other rising costs, many are foregoing the typical run to the local pub and instead drinking their beer at home in front of the television.

The Campaign for Real Ale, a consumer group promoting traditional pubs, says more than 1,400 pubs made their final “last call” last year. the campaign says more than half of British villages are dry for the first time since the Norman Conquest of 1066.

With beer being such a staple in the entire country, you may wonder how this could happen. But it almost seems like a perfect storm. Rising costs, a nationwide ban on smoking, a poor economy and a new fad of hard ciders has made beer less interesting.

But maybe this is a sign that pub owners need to adapt to the times. One particular pub goer in Leeds mentioned that he was going out more now with the current ban on smoking. It has become more family friendly for him and his family to go out and enjoy a meal. With so many other of the old guard pubs going out of business and many of these being the places where many would booze and smoke until early in the next morning, we may see a new kind of British pub appear in the wake of this movement.

read more | digg story