Greene King’s Summer Drinks Sparkle as Spritz Sales SoarGreene King, the country’s leading pub company and brewer, is reporting a sharp rise in spritz sales as they accounted for nearly half of the cocktails sold in the past month.
Customers are soaking up the chilled summer flavours and enjoying the chance to linger over refreshing cocktails and sharing drinks with friends and family.
They are enjoying the much-loved Aperol Spritz, on-trend elderflower liqueur flavoured Hugo Spritz, and, new for 2025, a Limoncello Spritz as the summer drinks menu launches across 1,600 Greene King pubs and Destination Brands pubs nationwide. Pubs are tapping into this year’s ongoing spritz trend for refreshing long mixed drinks, as well as providing customers with options to choose lower ABVs and the trending flavour and colour for 2025, lemon.
Spritz serves made up 45% of cocktail volume, up 12% compared to the same period last year (16 June-14 July). Aperol Spritz continues to lead the category as the nation’s favourite, accounting for 21% of cocktail sales overall and 58% of spritzes.
Hugo Spritz has seen significant growth with over 300% growth year-on-year, highlighting customers’ desires to try new spritz flavours outside of the classics within this growing drinks category.
Sales of an iconic summer classic Pimm’s are high with Pimm’s by the glass up by over 100% and sharing jugs of Pimm’s up by over 50%.
Across Greene King managed pubs, sales of rosé wine have continued to delight customers looking for lighter, more refreshing drinks as people are choosing to flex and moderate their drinking to suit different times of the day and week, and for different occasions.
Rosé pairs easily with food and can be enjoyed from day to night. It’s particularly viewed as a sharable drink for social moments and Greene King is seeing a growth in its Provence rosé sales in particular as customers choose to trade up for more premium quality.
The company has led the on-trade rosé market for the past three periods (CGA P5 FY25), with 12 consecutive periods of growth. White Zinfandel remains its top-volume rosé category seller, however it is the Creation Côtes de Provence Rosé, sold exclusively in Greene King, driving category growth, up 30% year-on-year.
The appetite for iced beverages, such as coffee, is also on the rise. Hungry Horse pubs are leading the charge on this summer innovation and tapping into chilled beverage trends. Over the four weeks (16 June-14 July), iced drinks have accounted for 16% of total beverage volume in Hungry Horse. Iced coffee alone is up 125% year-on-year with caramel emerging as the most popular flavour. The limited-edition summer milkshake range (Salted Caramel, Strawberry, White Chocolate & Vanilla) has also landed strongly, contributing 7.7% of total beverage volume and helping to drive average spend per head across the estate.
Greene King’s drinks category director, Danny Ayton said: “What a start to the summer! Our customers really are loving the trending summer 2025 flavours and drinks we have on offer.
“Groups of customers will tend to stay longer so there is an opportunity for us to make the most of the extended dwell time, serving sharing cocktails, refreshing rosé wines and long summer drinks. It is all about the social atmosphere, the occasion, the flavours and the fun. It really highlights how the pub is the social place to come together to chat and linger over food and drinks. Our teams are working hard to delight our customers throughout the summer and beyond.”
