The No & Low alcohol market as previously predicted is BOOMING!

D2 F&B Creative have been predicting a No & Low alcohol boom ever since we supported The Drinks Edit launch their online No & Low business early in 2022. If like me you were in charge of little ones over the Christmas period, and couldn’t stand the thought of playing pigs in pants or braving the skate park with a hangover, you to would have shopped for No & Low alternatives to the alcoholic normal, I was absolutely delighted with a far larger choice on offer, and I am thrilled to report a significant upgrade in taste quality!

This observation is totally reinforced by the 2022 numbers! Ocado reported an uplift in sales of 83%, they plan to increase this category by over 30% during 2024. Sales of drinks with either No or Low alcohol content in them has risen 46% in 2023 compared to 2022 report Waitrose , whilst Asda wade in with a 50% rise in online searches with a 9% increase in overall sales, M&S have introduced new No and Low brands into their food halls on what seems like a daily basis, Tesco expect to see a record breaking sales year, whilst the grocer report 40% of the UK are now seriously moderating their drinking habits, wherever you look the No and Low numbers are impressive and likely to become even more eye opening as us humans strive to lead healthier lifestyles.

Some of the leading brands driving the No and Low boom are Lucky Saint, Athletic Brewing and Guinness 0% in beer; Gordons 0% Alcohol Free Gin, the Clean Co brand in spirits; and Nozeco, Not Guilty and Kylie 0% Sparkling Rosé in wine. The rise in demand for Kylie’s no alcohol wine has been spectacular with demand rocketing throughout the year with one million bottles sold across all UK retailers alone. Kylie said “When we launched our 0% Sparkling Rosé last year we knew health and wellbeing was becoming more and more important in people’s lives and so many of us are leaning in to more self-care.”

As we clinked our glasses with sober minds to bring in the New Year, and set promises we are bound to break, No and Low producers and retailers are preparing for record demands for No and Low alcohol beer, wines and spirits during 2024. D2 F&B Creative say that the main reasons for the previously predicted No and Low alcohol boom are:

1. New found mainstream shopper confidence in the quality of the drinks, often driven by word of mouth.
2. Shoppers now have greater concerns around mental health and wellbeing, so are now drinking alcohol in moderation.
3. An overall increase in better branded and great tasting products.
4. In store No and Low hero fixtures, you don’t have to hunt around the shop to find the products anymore.
5. Prices have slightly dropped so shoppers can afford to drink healthy which previously wasn’t the case.

In a society where most of our food choices on sale are processed or ultra processed, the process of taking alcohol out of alcoholic liquids does not require replacement additives, which most food products have to inject to make the product tasty and shopper centric at retail. The most common way (there are several ways) to dealcoholize is simply to add water or steam to the alcoholic liquid, and then boil it under pressure, alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, so when boiled the alcohol is released as a vapour, thus removed from the liquid.

In conclusion, D2 F&B Creative concur with the retailers that 2024 will be a bonza year for Now and Low products of all genres, and we will now predict, that societies shift towards health and wellbeing will in fact branch out into other F&B areas to, which we will of course be blogging about in the near future : )

If you are in the F&B service genre of business, we would recommend you take a look at the No and Low products you have available, as more and more of your customer base will be wanting to purchase them.