This Animated Map Shows the Brutal Decline in On-Premise Food and Alcohol Sales by State in the Last 2 Weeks

For weeks, the effects of Covid-19 have wreaked havoc on the bar and restaurant sector. Now, newly released data from analytics firm Nielsen CGA provides a stark visualization of that impact.

As illustrated in the animated map below, from March 10 to March 21, every state in the U.S. saw a precipitous drop in on-premise food and alcohol sales.

Over the course of those 11 days, the map shows a percentage decline in what Nielsen calls “baseline daily velocity.” The term is another way of describing the average sales Nielsen would expect on that day, based upon data taken every weekday during the six months prior (with any outliers removed).

A baseline daily velocity of minus 20 percent, therefore, is essentially a 20-percent sales drop compared to Nielsen’s average. By March 21, most states in the U.S. hit daily velocities of between minus 60 and minus 80 percent.

Additionally, Nielsen provided VinePair with selected state-specific data that further illustrates the impact of coronavirus on the bar and restaurant industry.

Washington state, which saw the country’s first reported coronavirus case, was also the first to see on-premise business decline. In the period between March 9 and 15, the daily velocity dropped from minus 31 to minus 48 percent. On March 16, daily velocity hit minus 72 percent, after governor Jay Inslee ordered all bars to close and restaurants to provide only takeout and delivery. As of March 22, sales decline remains around 80 percent.

New York, the state with the highest number of confirmed cases, has also seen a steep drop. On March 9, eight days after the first reported case of Covid-19 in the state, on-premise sales of food and alcohol were down 9 percent from the average. By March 17, the day after bars and restaurants were ordered to close to on-premise business, the daily velocity had reached minus 80 percent.

Louisiana, meanwhile, didn’t see the first impacts of the coronavirus on on-premise sales until Friday, March 13, but a “quick and strong decline” soon followed. From March 13 to 17, the daily velocity went from minus 15 percent to minus 73 percent.

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