Distill Ventures, the craft investment wing of Diageo that works with several NA spirits brands, has data indicating that there are now 71 non-alcoholic spirits brands in the U.S. and U.K. A more comprehensive list compiled by Alcademics shows a total of 115 brands currently available for sale around the world. While online shopping grew significantly during the pandemic, alcohol remains a regulated substance, so the local grocery store or liquor store are still where the vast majority of Americans get their booze. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Again, this can be a bit hard for us to uncover, as Americans are unable to purchase alcoholic beverages on Amazon. But we can see that a lot of people also reassessed their relationship with alcohol and well-being at this time. Three Spirits sales e grew 160% after the first U.K. lockdown..
Due to the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, there have been myriad reasons bubbling to the surface for people to find ways to survive lockdown mentally as well as physically, says Demand for non-alcoholic beverages began to climb the week of Dec 13th and then absolutely skyrocketed on the last week of the year. First things first, lets look at weekly demand since January 2020 for non-alcoholic beverages like non-alcoholic beer and the ever-growing selection of alcohol-free mocktail base beverages. But all NA spirits clearly appeal to a wider swath of the populace than they did not long ago, and the trend is only going to continue picking up steam in the years ahead.
Ill., Demand very quickly rebounded and shot to a high point not matched until the Holiday shopping rush, which was tremendous. Our data shows that non-alcoholic beverages are more popular than ever. Interestingly, shot glasses have had the next strongest 2021 so far, with demand up 22% vs. 2020. These include The Other Side in Again, 2021 so far has been huge for non-alcoholic beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic items as a whole. Understanding the factors that influence consumer behavior can help brands better understand how to forecast demand for their products on online marketplaces, and even inform product design and marketing strategy. Survey respondents in that survey reported drinking alcohol on more days of every week as well as increases in the number of drinks they had. Again, we hesitate to declare in certain terms that demand for alcoholic beverages is slowing down in 2021, especially until after weve been able to fully analyze data from the holiday surge. Just non-alcoholic as a broad term has experienced the biggest increase, as demand in 2021 has been up by 52% compared to 2020. It represents a sea change not only in availability of information and products, but in their acceptance and adoption. With the new year approaching, theres no doubt that many Americans have cut back on drinking high on their resolutions for 2022, especially after what the last two years have looked like. Wine glasses and pint glasses, meanwhile, have actually seen demand slow down in 2021. Or are we drinking more than ever before? Its too early to tell if this is a sign of a broader slowdown in demand, or a simple anomaly, but we will be keeping a closer eye on this over the coming weeks. This is the category that has been trending downward the most as we enter the holiday season, which is something to keep an eye on. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. Weve survived this pandemic by putting our health first, thats an attitude that people want to hold on to still, Mercer says. And while many people dealt with that stress by picking up a new hobby or trying to bake the perfect loaf of sourdough, many Americans turned to another method to take the edge off: drinking. The peak season for glassware is during the holidays, with demand increasing by 80% to over 100% during December for each type of glassware except for margarita glasses. One of the first things we wanted to examine was sales for non-alcoholic beverages (which you can, of course, buy online). As individuals focus more on whats right for them, cultural systems around alcohol are being challenged and losing hold.. We dove deep into our data to see if we could uncover any insight into how COVID-19 may have impacted Americas drinking habits, how 2021 looked, and what that might mean for 2022.
However, with the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant as the holiday break approaches, we may see another run on home-bar equipment and a subsequent dip in demand for non-alcoholic drinks. Consumers are seeking alternatives and looking to nature and plants where there can be healthier options. She adds that 80% of Three Spirit customers are drinkers of alcohol. Non-alcoholic spirits, meanwhile, has seen demand up by 51%, while demand for non-alcoholic beer is up 34%. Lauren Paylor, And, if youd like to learn more about how you can best leverage our data to help your brand win online, holiday or not, get in touch today. Today, its socially acceptableeven coolnot to drink, with a few key reasons driving the choice to opt out, Mercer says. A year-over-year comparison of monthly demand reinforces this theory: Again, we see January and December being high points for both 2019 and 2020, with non-alcoholic beverages growing somewhat in popularity between both years. Each of the charts above offers strong early evidence that there may be a growing segment of consumers who may be looking for some sober options after overindulging a bit while spending much of 2020 isolating at home. Crystal Lake, The Covid-19 pandemic really allowed a lot of individuals to reprioritize themselves, to reconsider what they needed to do in order to take care better care of themselves, says Copyright 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Non-alcoholic, or NA, spirits have found firm footing in the drinks world. By Pattern Data Science / Amazon, ecommerce trends, data insights. Zero Proof Drinks & More: 100 Recipes for Mocktails & Low-Alcohol Cocktails, appeared in January, with approachable NA cocktails, as well as large-batch party drinks and low-ABV alternates; and Elva Ramirez'sZero Proof Cocktails: 90 Non-Alcoholic Recipes for Mindful Drinking, was released in May, focused on sourcing intensive recipes from the bar world. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the growth of NA spirits has been staggering. Perhaps not quite yet. For example, we may see non-alcoholic drinks continue to grow in popularity as more and more as 2021 draws to a close and people start looking toward 2022. Our ecommerce growth experts will walk you through what a Pattern partnership looks like for you. in Austin, 0% Non-Alcohol Experience in Tokyo, and Listen Bar and Ambrosia Elixirs in New York. As you can imagine, analyzing online demand on Amazon presents some challenges when it comes to trying to learn more about Americas drinking habits. May of 2020 saw unseasonably high demand, as millions of Americans got their home bar situation all set up in the face of closed bars and shelter in place orders. Mercer says lifestyle changes, health reasons, and choice are driving people to NA spirits. We've detected you are on Internet Explorer. A possible surrogate that people do love to shop for online, though, is barware and glassware. 2021, meanwhile, has been remarkably consistent throughout the year. Pint and pilsner glasses, meanwhile, have yet to see a holiday surge in our analysis as of the last week of November. To stay up to date on consumer behavior and ecommerce news, info, and trend analyses, be sure to subscribe to Pattern Insights on the right. However, we are seeing clear evidence that demand for non-alcoholic beverages is way up. What remains to be seen is whether this holiday season will match last years heights. Margarita glasses enjoyed another strong Cinco de Mayo, but most other types of glassware saw demand hover right around 2020s levels for much of the year. Responsibility.org, an effort from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, reported in a study a decline in binge drinking by American youth of nearly 50% since its founding 30 years ago. Finally, lets dig a little deeper and compare non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic spirits, and general searches for non-alcoholic items. The pandemic did have a clear and immediate impact on home bar supplies, which supports other studies that suggested last year was an unusually heavy drinking year for millions of Americans. For the best Barrons.com experience, please update to a modern browser. We took online demand for each type of non-alcoholic beverage and item of glassware and barware from January 2021 through July 2021 and compared it to the same period in 2020. That doesnt leave us without any options, of course. The Covid-19 pandemic uprooted everyone's lives to some degree, and while the popular media talking point was that people were drinking more as a means to cope, for many, the opposite was true.
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. January 2020 was the high point of that year, with demand settling into consistent levels through the earliest weeks of the pandemic and well into the summer and fall. Maureen Petrosky's 2021, though, has consistently outperformed both previous years. To say that the past year and a half have been stressful times would be an understatement.
However, it is at least some evidence that points toward demand for booze softening somewhat in the wake of last years binge. Never have we had more choice for anything from meat to milk to medicine, Mercer says. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. a bartender and spirits educator based in Washington, D.C., who advocates for health and wellness in the bar world, and has served as a brand ambassador for leading NA brand Seedlip. Either way, well be keeping a close eye on these trends and more in the coming weeks and months. While the pandemic initially had little impact on booze-free substitutes, its clear that more and more people are looking in that direction now that things have begun to reopen.
It could be that everyone got their home-bar situated last year and simply dont need to restock. Lets close with one last, simple look at 2021 so far. Theres clear evidence that online demand for non-alcoholic beverages is at an all-time high, but what about alcoholic beverages? Others, such as Vena's Fizz House in Portland, Maine, do serve alcohol, but keep NA serves on equal footing in terms of quantity, quality, and presence. According to a 2020 study, overall frequency of alcohol consumption increased by about 14% from 2019 to 2020. Mainstream? Mercer believes the move toward NA spirits will continue post-pandemic. An error has occurred, please try again later. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com. https://www.barrons.com/articles/non-alcoholic-spirits-are-here-to-stay-heres-why-01625860406. There's now a burgeoning scene of NA bars around the world where non-alcoholic cocktails are served in energetic, evening-oriented gathering hubs. Sans Bar As you might expect, the New Year represents a major high point for demand for non-alcoholic beverages. Be curious, be flexible, and dont knock it till you have tried it.. Copyright 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The same study showed 87% of American adults self-report that they currently are confident they drink responsibly. When we examine weekly demand, we see a much more immediate impact in the early days of the pandemic. In the U.S., sales volume grew 289% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2016 and 2020, and 78.9% last year alone. But IWSR still projects double-digit annual growth for the next five years, forecasting a 12.6% CAGR growth in sales volume from 2021 to 2025. Three Spirit is a U.K.-based business, and its no secret that drinking alcohol increased in lockdown for the U.K., Mercer says. Martini glasses have seen the largest early holiday shopping surge, with wine glasses and shot glasses not far behind. Heres how weekly demand for each changed from 2020 through 2021 so far: Non-alcoholic beer actually did see a pretty significant surge in the weeks immediately following lockdown, and otherwise has experienced fairly inconsistent shifts in demand from week to week. Non-alcoholic, or NA, spirits have found firm footing in the drinks world. Is demand for the strong stuff falling as demand for its counterpart goes up? The company calls itself the world's first plant-powered social elixir, with a lineup of products they rank from energizing to unwinding. Three NA cocktail books recently debuted on bookshelves within an eight-month period. Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When Youre Not Drinking for Whatever Reason, was released in October, with a range of enticing recipes and drinks hacks for a healthy and moderate lifestyle; A 2019 Nielsen study cited by Wilderton, a non-alcoholic spirits brand based in Portland, indicates that 66% of drinkers between 21 and 34 years of age are actively seeking to cut down their alcohol consumption. Our year-over-year view further supports this notion. Are Americans feeling more inspired to sober up after a couple years of stress drinking? Again, 2021 appears to be strikingly similar to 2020 so far. Interestingly, though, we saw demand dip slightly between October and November this year. Or are we seeing a rise in non-alcoholic beverages and mocktails this year? the co-founder of NA brand Three Spirit Drinks, which is newly available in the U.S. So we wanted to learn more about the potential long-term impact of COVID-19 on our drinking habits and how things are trending heading into the new year. Tatiana Mercer, In fact, the glass and barware most associated with the strong stuff have been the ones who have had the largest 2021. Heres a closer look at the change in weekly demand for different types of glassware: Martini glasses experienced the quickest rebound following the initial lockdown dip, while margarita glasses experienced the most significant early rebound (during the week of Cinco de Mayo, of course). Perhaps the growth of a nascent category with minuscule volume to start with cant be replicated over the long-term. The first weeks of shutdowns actually saw demand for glassware and barware dip somewhat, an effect that was only temporary. Of course, that doesnt mean for certain that Americans are cutting back on purchasing alcohol. Demand for non-alcoholic spirits and general non-alcoholic searches both followed similar trends, peaking in January, and remaining consistently higher in 2021 compared to 2020. Julia Bainbridges
No one is judging you for drinking, just as wed expect not to be judged for not drinking, Mercer says. Demand then remained high throughout January 2021, dwarfing New Years 2020, which suggests there were a lot more people interested in alcohol free alternatives after the first year of COVID. Demand in early 2021 was ahead of 2020s pre-pandemic levels, fell behind Mays surge, and has trended pretty close to 2020 levels in the months since.