French summer beverage sales fell 1.9%, driven by wine’s 6.0% drop

Beverage sales at French cafes, hotels and restaurants fell over the summer, with wine posting the sharpest decline in a sign of weaker traffic and softer consumption in the hospitality channel.

The figures come from Lightspeed, a commerce platform used by hospitality businesses across Europe. In its annual summer beverage study, published this week, the company said sales data from more than 5,700 venues in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom showed that France’s beverage revenue for July and August slipped 1.9% from the same period in 2025.

The drop in France was steeper than in most of the other markets covered by the study. Belgium recorded a 0.5% increase in beverage sales value over the same period, Germany edged down 0.1%, the Netherlands rose 0.1%, and the U.K. increased 1.3%, according to Lightspeed.

In France, the decline was not limited to revenue. Volumes sold were also down, falling 1.7% from the summer of 2025. That points to an actual slowdown in purchases, rather than a change driven only by prices or product mix.

Lightspeed said the study compared the summers of 2024, 2025 and 2026. The company’s data covers businesses it equips with its commerce tools, giving a snapshot of on-premise consumption in the hospitality trade, a key sales channel for many drinks producers and distributors.

Within the French market, the data showed a split between categories. Spirits sales rose 5.1% in value during July and August, making them one of the stronger parts of the market. Tequila was the main driver, with sales value up 27.1%, while vodka increased 13.9%. Gin moved in the opposite direction, declining 7.9%.

Non-alcoholic drinks also advanced. Lightspeed reported a 3.4% increase in sales value for alcohol-free beverages in France over the summer period. That suggests consumers continued to spend in that segment even as the broader beverage market softened.

Wine had the weakest performance among the major categories tracked in the French market. Sales value fell 6.0%, while volumes dropped 8.3%. Lightspeed said wine was the category under the most pressure during the summer, with red wine weighing heavily on the results. Red wine sales were down 11.0%.

The figures add to signs of strain in the French hospitality trade after a difficult summer for part of the sector. Because cafes, bars and restaurants remain an important outlet for wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks, the trend matters well beyond individual venues. A sustained slowdown in this channel could put more pressure on wineries, beverage suppliers and wholesalers already dealing with shifting demand patterns and tighter spending by consumers.

The breakdown also suggests that the weakness was not uniform across the drinks business. Consumers appeared more willing to spend on some spirits and on alcohol-free options, while wine lost ground both in value and in the number of servings sold. For wine producers, especially those exposed to restaurant and bar sales, that is a more troubling signal than a simple revenue decline because it points to fewer purchases rather than only lower pricing.

The contrast inside the spirits category was also notable. Tequila and vodka gained strongly, while gin retreated, indicating that consumer preferences within the same broad segment are changing. In a market where overall beverage sales are under pressure, those shifts can affect purchasing decisions by operators and reshape shelf space, drink menus and distributor priorities.

The international comparison in the study showed that France was not alone in facing a difficult summer, but it did underperform several neighboring markets. Germany was nearly flat, while Belgium, the Netherlands and especially the U.K. posted modest gains in beverage sales value. That makes France’s decline more significant for suppliers with a large presence in the country’s hospitality sector.

Lightspeed did not present the results as a full measure of every venue in each market, but the sample size gives a broad view of consumer behavior in a large part of the European hospitality industry. In France, the combination of a 1.9% drop in sales value and a 1.7% drop in volume suggests that many operators were dealing with lower beverage demand during the peak summer season.

For restaurant owners and bar managers, beverage sales are often a major source of margin. A weaker summer can therefore have an effect that extends beyond drinks alone, especially when the shortfall is concentrated in categories such as wine that traditionally play a central role in French hospitality. For producers and distributors, the data may also shape decisions on pricing, stock allocation and product focus heading into the next seasonal cycle.