The open rate of bars, restaurants and breweries tracked by BeerBoard has hit 94%, the highest recorded rate since May 2020, the Syracuse, New York-headquartered on-premise tracking firm reported.
Two weeks ago, BeerBoard announced the open rate (93%) had tied its highest mark since the pandemic forced the closure or restriction of bars and restaurants; however, the results of BeerBoard’s most recent survey (March 10-13) bested that number by +1%.
Bars and restaurants began 2022 at an open rate of 89% during the January 6-9 survey period, which is lower than all but the first BeerBoard survey period of 2021 (85% for January 14-17, 2021).
Nationwide, the open rate of on-premise establishments last hit 93% during BeerBoard’s December 16-19 survey period, just before the omicron variant of COVID-19 caused a spike in cases in the U.S. Before that, the open rate reached its previous ceiling of 93% in late May and early June, before the delta variant took hold.
The average number of taps has reached 20, a +5.3% increase over the previous survey and an +11.1% increase over the same weekend in 2021. California, which is cycling against a time of strict protocols for bars and restaurants last year, posted the largest year-over-year increase in number of taps (+46.7%), followed by Illinois (+21.4%), New York (+16.7%) and Michigan (+14.3%). Florida, Texas and Tennessee all registered a +5.6% increase in number of taps. Georgia, South Carolina, Minnesota and Nevada were all flat in average number of taps compared to the same weekend in 2021.
Only Texas (-3.2%) and Tennessee (-0.9%) posted declines in volume per location compared to the same weekend last year. Nationwide, volume increased +12.4%, driven by increases in California (+102.8%), Illinois (+22.3%), New York (+19.7%), Nevada (+18.5%), Minnesota (+14.1%), Michigan (+13.1%), Florida (+12.3%), Georgia (+7.8%), and South Carolina (+5.8%).
Nationwide, the rate of sale increased +1.4% compared to the last survey and +45.5% year-over-year.
The increases in draft business likely come as welcome news to the beer industry, which is gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day and the NCAA basketball tournament, typically both on-premise-driven occasions.