Non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits on the rise as demand grows among Canadians

With the vacation season in full swing and “Dry January” across the nook, Canadians who do not drink alcohol or need to in the reduction of might discover extra choices on menus and retailer cabinets.

Beer giants are launching non-alcoholic brews, specialty producers are creating progressive options to spirits and people within the trade say it is changing into extra socially acceptable to be “sober curious” — a time period used to explain individuals dipping their toes within the non-alcoholic waters.

“Ten years ago, you would go into a party with a non-alcoholic beer, and people would ask you if you’re pregnant or sick,” stated Nicolas Gagnon-Oosterwaal, president and co-founder of Montreal-based brewery Sober Carpenter.

“But now … it’s completely the other way around.”

Gagnon-Oosterwaal stated identical to public notion, the non-alcoholic beverage trade has come a good distance, however there’s nonetheless extra development to return.

Global Market Insights estimates that worldwide, the non-alcoholic beer market was value greater than US$22 billion in 2022 and shall be value virtually double that in a decade.

“What happened for craft beer in the last five, 10 years, I think will happen in the next five, 10 years for non-alcoholic (drinks),” Gagnon-Oosterwaal stated.

Non-alcoholic beer has been round since medieval instances and was promoted throughout Prohibition. And do not forget the Shirley Temple, an alcohol-free cocktail invented virtually 100 years in the past. But corporations have lengthy struggled to make a non-alcoholic beer that was extra than simply drinkable.

German-based brewery Clausthaler calls this the “holy grail of non-alcoholic beer,” and so they did one thing completely different to attempt to obtain it: as an alternative of eradicating the alcohol from beer, they discovered a method to halt fermentation earlier than the alcohol developed.

More than 4 a long time after Clausthaler launched its product in 1979, the non-alcoholic holy grail hasn’t simply been discovered — it is all over the place.

There are non-alcoholic bitter beers, stouts and IPAs. There are ciders, and there are purple, white and rose wines. There are additionally non-alcoholic spirits, which mimic the style of rum, gin and even absinthe. (Many non-alcoholic merchandise truly comprise a tiny quantity of alcohol — 0.5 per cent or much less, or across the similar as kombucha, whereas others comprise zero per cent.)

There are many explanation why somebody would possibly drink much less or by no means. For individuals coping with alcohol habit, typically sobriety is the healthiest selection. Some religions prohibit ingesting alcohol.

Alcohol additionally has destructive well being results. Some individuals have an alcohol intolerance or allergy and lots of frequent medicine work together badly with alcohol.

And, lately, extra individuals are collaborating in “Dry January,” the place they provide up alcohol for the primary month of the yr.

Joel Gregoire, affiliate director for food and drinks at market analysis firm Mintel, stated youthful generations look like driving the expansion in non-alcoholic drinks, noting that many customers shopping for these drinks aren’t avoiding alcohol totally, however reducing down.

In a 2021 survey by Statistics Canada, round one in 5 Canadians stated they have been ingesting lower than they did pre-pandemic, and amongst these aged 15 to 29, one third had decreased their consumption.

There’s a social aspect to alcohol that makes it tough for a lot of to interchange, stated Gregoire. That’s why many customers are drawn to non-alcoholic variations of issues like beer or wine, as an alternative of merely ordering a Pepsi.

“For those who just are choosing not to drink for whatever reason … it still allows them to have maybe more of a premium or enjoyable experience.”

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario began stocking non-alcoholic drinks in 2018, and in the present day carries 16 completely different merchandise, together with beer, wine, a spirit and a combined drink. It’s launching 5 extra wines and two extra beers subsequent yr, and says gross sales of those merchandise have grown 20 per cent prior to now yr.

Sales have additionally been rising exponentially for Sober Carpenter since launching in 2019.

“When we started to talk to retailers four years ago about this, people were saying ‘why do I need this?”‘ Gagnon-Oosterwaal stated.

As he watched the craft beer motion develop through the years, Gagnon-Oosterwaal observed non-alcoholic beer wasn’t getting the identical remedy, prompting him to create Sober Carpenter.

Now, utilizing the arrested-fermentation model of brewing, Sober Carpenter cans are offered in shops throughout Canada and the world.

Beer Canada estimates that non-alcoholic beer gross sales volumes are rising far quicker than most alcohol classes, at 22 to 25 per cent. Labatt Breweries of Canada, residence to manufacturers like Budweiser, Corona and Mill Street, stated not solely are gross sales volumes growing, however revenues are too as extra premium and craft manufacturers hit the market.

Beer is by far the largest class in non-alcoholic drinks, with wine a distant second.

Spirits, in the meantime, are a a lot newer and smaller class, stated Bob Huitema, who launched Sobrii in 2019.

Huitema, who obtained a deal on “Dragon’s Den” final yr, began creating his line of non-alcoholic spirits in 2017 as a result of he beloved cocktails, however hated hangovers.

He stated different markets, such because the U.Okay., are additional forward than Canada in terms of non-alcoholic spirits, which might make the business irritating at instances, but it surely additionally means there’s untapped alternative on the market.

Most Canadians who tried Sobrii merchandise at a latest exhibition did not even know non-alcoholic spirits existed, Huitema stated.

Non-alcoholic drinks additionally typically price simply as a lot as their alcoholic counterparts, as a result of they’re simply as sophisticated to make.

“I would even argue that you might have to nail the flavour more, because the person drinking it is not going to get buzzed,” Gregoire stated.

The early days of non-alcoholic beer left a stigma of sub-par style, however know-how has modified that, stated Labatt’s Brian Kuhn, vice-president of Beyond Beer, in an e mail.

Beer Canada stated brewers are making vital investments, with new strategies of manufacturing serving to make attainable a greater variety of non-alcoholic beers that do not sacrifice on style.

And identical to Clausthaler within the Seventies, corporations are nonetheless searching for new methods to make these drinks.

At Sober Carpenter, the brewery discovered a method to make non-alcoholic cider, and has began doing smaller batches of limited-edition specialty beers alongside their regular choices.

Gagnon-Oosterwaal would not see non-alcoholic drinks as a passing fad. Like meat options, he thinks the non-alcoholic drink trade will proceed to develop and enhance.

“I think that the trend of making healthier decisions, cutting out alcohol, is (here) to stay.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Dec. 18, 2022.