In recent years, Dry January offers an opportunity for consumers to reduce or eliminate their alcohol consumption by testing non-alcoholic opportunities in beers, cocktails, and spirits, which has created a developing market for those products.
In 2022, the market for beer, cider, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic or low-alcohol ready-to-drink products exceeded $13 billion, up from $8 billion in 2018 for the 10 key markets (United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada). , France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom), according to the IWSR’s December 2023 report. The non-alcoholic and low-alcohol category is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% between 2023 and 2027, while non-alcoholic products will witness an accelerating CAGR of 7% at the same time to reach 4% of the total alcohol market.
“With non-alcoholic or low-alcohol beverages being a more established component of the alcoholic beverage landscape, expansion is slowing after a peak in 2020 and 2021; However, the category is poised for physically powerful gains in the coming years, led by non-alcoholic beverages. and persistent beverages. High levels of recruitment,” shared Susie Goldspink, head of convenience and low-alcohol beverages at IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, in a press release.
Despite the expansion of non-alcoholic beverages, alcohol intake in the U. S. has risen. The U. S. population is also increasing. In 2021, the average American fed 2. 51 gallons of ethanol from alcoholic beverages, adding wine, beer and spirits, up 2. 9% from 2. 44 gallons in 2020, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Of the more than 1,000 consumers surveyed through Gallup, 62% of seniors ages 18 to 34 reported drinking alcohol, compared with 72% in the 2001-2003 baseline. However, consumers over the age of 55 and older drink more, with 59% reporting drinking. alcoholic beverages in the reference years 2021-2023, to 49% in 2001-2003.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have become familiar with the non-alcoholic opportunities of alcoholic beverages, experimenting with drink mixes at home, Stacey Swenson, Longbottom’s cocktail representative and mixologist, told FoodNavigator-USA. As a result, restaurants and bars have expanded their non-alcoholic options, he added.
Drawing on his experience as a bartender and bar manager, Swenson helped comfort drink brand Longbottom create its non-alcoholic Bloody Mary called Virgin Mary, non-GMO, gluten-free, and bottled in recycled cans.
“People who drink [other non-alcoholic Bloody Mary brands] regularly only drink one because they’re so heavy and usually not very enjoyable, whereas Longbottom is made from freshly squeezed tomatoes. So, it’s new tomato juice and other herbal ingredients. It’s very different from any other combination of quotes out there because it can always be taken neat over ice or shaken, which I can’t say for any other Bloody Mary mix.
As brands look for opportunities in the alcohol-free space, they’re thinking about how they can create products with quality ingredients that can stand on their own without alcohol, Cooper said.
“I don’t see [alcohol-free] as a trend. I think it’s just the norm now. You can get those RTDs. . . [with] delicious things that you can add alcohol to if you want, but you don’t necessarily want to have so much idea and creativity and also with clever ingredients, which is something you’ve never noticed before.
Outside of cocktails, hoppy waters have gained popularity in the convenience beverage market as an option for hoppy-rich beers like Indian Pale Ales and Pale Ales.
Ahead of the dry January, HOP WTR doubled down on hops with the launch of its Double Hopping drink, which also contains ashwagandha and L-theanine for added capacity like the rest of its products. The concept for the new product came about after learning that its consumers were looking for a product with even more hops, Logo co-founder and CEO Jordan Bass told FoodNavigator-USA.
“We’re constantly interviewing [customers], talking to them and getting information and feedback, and one of the things that came out of that is our hop consumers said, ‘Hey, we need something even hoppier. We love your product, but we need anything that destroys the palate,” Bass said. “So we listened to them and introduced the Double Hop to address that need, and the incredibly positive feedback, and sold [our initial print run]. “
In addition to having a new flavor for this dry January, HOP WTR is employing exclusive marketing tactics to engage with consumers over the course of the month, Bass said. Last year, for its dry January promotion, HOP WTR sent its enthusiasts a HOP LOCKR. , for which only the logo had the mix to allow consumers to save their alcohol for the month of January.
This year, HOP WTR partnered with a qualified hypnotist to “put consumers in a trance that will allow them to develop healthier habits,” HOP WTR shared in a press release. Consumers can sign up for a consultation with the hypnotist until January 12 and winners will get the consultation until January 17.
Last year’s dry January also set HOP WTR for “its transformational year” in 2023, with the logo “up nearly 400% year-over-year in retail analysis,” he wrote. This dry January will be “similar, though better” than last year, as awareness of convenience drinks continues to grow, he added.
“We see each and every year that Dry January is a key time for us, where it attracts a lot of new consumers to the franchise to check out the product,” Bass said. “What has pleasantly surprised us is that each and every year, when we see this, it provides a new foundation from which the logo can grow. It’s not like you see a dry January and all of a sudden it drops back to previous levels, you set a new ceiling and then grow from there.
Like HOP WTR, the alcohol-free hiyo seltzer logo is capacity-based and offers consumers a healthier option than classic alcohol through ashwagandha, L-theanine, lion’s mane and ginger, logo co-founder Swan Cooper told FoodNavigator-USA.
“To create this superior alternative to alcohol, we rely heavily on our functional ingredients to provide fitness benefits and effects to our consumers. We also say that, like any substance, those ingredients can have effects on other people differently. It has been clinically proven that most of them. . . They reduce tension and anxiety, improve mood and provide more sleep,” she said.
Initially, the dry January that consumers know had its roots in the U. K. and overseas, with organizations such as Alcohol Change selling alcohol withdrawal to advertise a healthy lifestyle, he noted.
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a statement in the journal The Lancet Public Health specifying that “when it comes to alcohol consumption, there is no safe amount that does not have health effects,” and its cancer research organization, the International Health Agency. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had in the past classified alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, the most threatening group.
“The dry month of January for us is a big celebration. It’s like the only time of year when the global consciousness is looking to think about setting your intentions, how to be healthier, [and] what needs to change, and we’ve realized more than in the last few years that for many people alcohol consumption is a fundamental thing that they need to reduce or reduce. “
With the UK and Australian markets ahead of the US, the U. S. In the wake of a dry U. S. in January, Cooper expects “increased awareness and excitement” around non-alcoholic beverages in the U. S. The market “will really become a mainstay in the U. S. “”We are not going to be able to do anything Hiyo also kicked off the month with a new flavor, Strawberry Guava, which joined its lineup that includes Peach Mango, Watermelon Lime and Blackberry Lemon.
“We’ve noticed that other people perceive each year and we’ve noticed the expansion in our business every year, every January. We are beyond our January beyond. , so it’s very promising to see that there are a lot of other people who are starting to embrace those campaigns and get that healthy foot forward in a way that doesn’t sacrifice their social life.