Margins are shrinking. Closures are rising. Top-line growth? Patchy at best.

From London to Los Angeles, the on-premise channel is facing real headwinds, economic, operational, and emotional. And yet, despite all this, hospitality itself is having a quiet renaissance.

Everywhere you look, something remarkable is happening: the experience of going out has never been more consistent, more elevated, or more human.

Walk into a bar almost anywhere in the world, and you’re likely to be greeted with warmth, served something tailored to your mood, and - if you’re lucky - walk out feeling seen. That’s not luck. That’s craft. And it’s being delivered not by macroeconomic policy or corporate strategy, but by hospitality professionals who show up night after night and make brands, venues, and guest memories come alive.

We’re so used to it, we’ve stopped seeing it.

📈 The Demand Is There. Are We Ready?

New global research from CGA by NIQ confirms what we’re all sensing: when people feel financially optimistic, they return to the on-premise not for drinks or food alone, but for experience.

• People are craving connection.

• They want to be guided.

• They want to be looked after.

And the only thing that turns that intention into action is hospitality done well.

Which means that if we want to reverse the channel’s current trajectory, it won’t be a marketing campaign that saves us. It’ll be the bartender, the server, the floor staff. The people. The ones who translate “brand” into something felt.

🏆 The Five-Way Win

Investing in hospitality training isn’t just good ethics, it’s razor-sharp business sense. Done right, it unlocks a five-way win:

1. The individual wins: With better skills and knowledge, staff feel confident, perform better, and stay longer.

2. The venue wins: Higher morale and lower turnover create operational consistency and stronger culture.

3. The brand wins: Trained staff recommend your product with integrity, increasing sales and advocacy.

4. The guest wins: More memorable service = more repeat visits.

5. The channel wins: With talent retention and guest engagement, the sector stabilises and grows.

This is the virtuous cycle the on-premise needs. But right now? We’re breaking the wheel.

🚨 The Training Gap

Despite the clear upside, most frontline staff don’t receive the training they need. CGA by NIQ, in collaboration with Celebrate Her and Allara Global, found that only 29% of hospitality workers feel they’re adequately trained across all aspects of their roles.

Let that sink in: 71% feel under-supported in the one job that holds the entire guest experience together.

If we fail them, we fail the brands. The venues. The guests. The sector.

🧠 Merch & Effect POV

At Merch & Effect, we’ve always believed that POSM is only half the story. You can place a beautiful display, craft the perfect toolkit, or launch the cleverest campaign, but if the person behind the bar isn’t equipped to engage, recommend, and serve with confidence, that effort is wasted.

We see this every day in the field: advocacy toolkits collecting dust. Menu callouts left unexplained. Beautiful gifting packs offered, but never opened.

That’s not because staff don’t care. It’s because they’re overworked and under-trained.

Our view is simple: Hospitality professionals are the most powerful medium your brand has. And right now, they are underleveraged.

💡 It's Time to Rethink Training as POSM

Training isn’t just an HR responsibility. It’s an activation tool. It’s a channel strategy. And increasingly, it’s the key to ROI in the on-premise.

Let’s give hospitality staff the scripts, the confidence, the materials, and the emotional permission to become not just servers, but brand advocates, memory-makers, and revenue drivers.

The future of the on-premise isn’t in the backbar.
It’s the people standing in front of it.