When it comes to the practicalities of back-bar presentation, Ko-Nkengmo – who will be issuing back-bar guidelines to each Star Pubs & Bars site this month (November) as part of the company’s Good, Better, Best strategy – believes a spirit’s range should be “clean, well-lit and showcase the pub’s entire offering”. “The rule of thumb is best sellers should be at the base of the display, premium variantsĪt eye level and niche or premium spirits with local appeal, or that are on-trend ranged at the top,” he says. They also spend £26.66 more per month in the on-trade,” he says. However, if someone wanted a whiskey, ideally, these should be placed together so the guest can make a choice easily,” she explains.īen Ko-Nkengmo, spirits category buyer for Star Pubs & Bars also explains how tapping into the trend for premiumisation – seen particularly with craft spirits – is good for business. “Industry data tells us that 44% of premium spirits drinkers visit an ontrade outlet weekly, versus 34% for standard spirits drinkers. “The Botanist, for example, has a lot of focus on gin because this sells very well. NWTC’s Harrison believes that grouping certain spirits together, as Mallon does at Van Winkle, can also simplify the ordering process for customers and speed up service. “And there is a growing interest from our customers.” It’s a move that has already paid off: “About a quarter of our total drinks sales are from Bourbon, which is our best-selling spirit,” he says.

“More customers than ever are looking for brands and serves that tell a genuine story about their history or ingredients.”Īt Glasgow bar Van Winkle, owner Derek Mallon has reserved the top two shelves of his back bar to showcase 80 different Bourbons, while ensuring staff are continually trained on the range so they can confidently make recommendations and advise customers on the latest arrivals. “There is strong interest in authentic specialities such as Fernet Branca and Lazzaroni Amaretto, and craft spirits such as Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Brooklyn Gin, and back-bar displays and PoS (point of sale) can be used to spotlight this heritage,” he says. Selection, location and presentation, as Harrison says, all play an important role in shifting those carefully chosen spirits, but how exactly do you go about making a ‘great’ back bar? Dan Bolton, managing director at spirit distributor Hi-Spirits, says there has been a ‘significant shift’ in terms of both customer expectations and knowledge of premium and craft spirits, so he advises pubs to place the spotlight on specialist drinks if they are key to their offer. Menus, sourcing the right product, the right quality and also at the right price. You need the ability to supply the right products that are in demand and then showcase them all with a great back bar.” These sell very well in their local sites, but not so well at the other end of the country,” she reveals. “With the majority of our sites, we try to stock local gins for each region. However, she suggests, high sales may not have been achievable had NWTC not taken the time to source suitable products, priced them right and then presented them behind the bar in a way that would make them both visible and appealing to each site’s customer base. Unsurprisingly, given the statistics, gin is the highest moving spirit category ‘by far’ at New World Trading Company (NWTC) according to Kelly Harrison, the pub and bar operator’s creative development specialist. Proof that spirits are boosting sales in pubs arrived last month courtesy of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), whose figures revealed that wine and spirit sales in the on-trade have risen 5% in the past year to almost £6bn. Gin was the top performer, bringing £620m to pubs and accounting for more than half of all value sales, demonstrating that this superstar spirit remains in ascendancy.

Bar displays