The pub market - France

The on-trade market includes all establishments whose primary or secondary activity is the sale of alcoholic beverages. These establishments can offer consumption on the premises or for import, and their activity is conditional on possession of an operating license. Business licenses grant establishments the right to market food and beverages. Licensed premises (licence III or licence IV) are subject to a maximum quota of one licensed premises (licence III or licence IV) per 450 inhabitants. These quotas apply at both municipal and departmental level. However, it is possible to depart from these quotas. Communes that have exceeded this quota can work with neighboring communes to reach an average of one outlet per 450 inhabitants. The market for public houses is changing rapidly. The creation of franchised outlets (Irish Corner, Trois Brasseurs, Ninkasi...) is overshadowing traditional independent outlets, whose image is sometimes outdated. The market is also suffering from competition from restaurant and coffee brands (Starbucks, Hard Rock Café, etc.), which are benefiting from the overall 18% decline in alcohol consumption over the last two decades. As a result, all of these venues (restaurants, cafés and drinking establishments) have been heavily impacted by the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021. By 2022, sales in drinking establishments had returned to their pre-crisis levels (identical sales in February 2022 compared with January 2020), and were even up 20% over the end of 2022 compared with January 2020.