The non-alcoholic beer industry is expected to grow tenfold by 2025

Drinkers in the UK spent £14million on alcohol free and low alcohol beers last year, according to a study conducted by research group IWSR.

The Lo & No drinks industry is approaching half a billion pounds in sales per year and has almost doubled in size over the past five years. 

This growth is expected to continue. According to IWSR, the Lo & No alcohol drinks market is forecast to grow ten times faster than the regular drinks industry until 2025. This growth is not only expected in the UK, but across key global markets including the US, Germany and Spain. 

Emily Neill, chief operating officer of IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, says: “While January has become a popular month for people to cut back or abstain from alcohol, interest in no- and low-alcohol drinks has increasingly become a year-round trend among consumers across the world.”

To meet that demand, Neill says beverage alcohol companies have “invested heavily to introduce a number of innovative new products”, with many established mainstream brands “crossing over to develop lo & no alcohol versions of their popular beer, wines and spirits.”

Among these popular brands are Heineken and Budweiser, both of which have recently invested in Lo & No alcohol options. 

Trevor Stirling, an analyst at Bernstein Bank, told the Financial Times that the UK has become “one of the hotspots” for growth in the low-alcohol and alcohol-free brewing industries. 

It’s not just beer seeing significant growth in the popularity of Lo & No options, either; according to IWSR, demand for low and no alcohol wines, spirits and ready-to-drink pre-mixed cans is continually increasing, too.

Social responsibility body and regulator for alcohol labelling in the UK, Portman Group, agrees with IWSR’s findings. Their latest research report into UK consumer attitudes to Lo & No alcohol products found a significant increase in popularity with adults of all ages.

Almost three-quarters of current alcohol drinkers reported trying these products, with a fifth of these consumers saying they are more likely to drink these products now, compared to a year ago. This figure has doubled since Portman Group’s previous survey. 

One of the most cited reasons for the appeal of Lo & No alcohol products is that they enable consumers to drive home safely and not drink excessively at social events. 

Ultimately, it is clear that producers are responding rapidly to the demand for Lo & No alcohol products. Further development in this area is expected to increase the breadth of available products, leading to exponential growth in the market over the next few years. 

Illustration: Sophie Donne