Non-alcoholic drinks boom in sales as pub serving zero alcohol gains popularity

As the sales of non-alcoholic beers, wines and spirits increase, a pub in Sydney’s north serving zero alcohol has also gained popularity — particularly among younger people.

Forget the pub with no beer, this is a pub with no booze at all – and part of the no-alcohol revolution sweeping across Australia.

Young people are leading the shout for non-alcoholic drinks, driven by a desire to be healthier on a night out. But the thirst for no alcohol is rapidly spreading wider than that.

Endeavour Drinks, the parent company of BWS and Dan Murphy’s has reported sales of non-alcoholic beers, wines and spirits have seen an increase of more than 100 per cent in the last two years.

Premix non-alcoholic cocktails is its fastest-growing category.

“Non-alcoholic drinks are now competing with well-established categories such as aperitifs and international craft beers in terms of share of sales,” Dan Murphy’s managing director Alex Freudmann said.

“Non-alcoholic beer makes up the majority of all sales in the category, thanks to new technologies and brewing processes, which have made it possible for brewers to make better tasting beers in recent years that really replicate the flavour of their alcoholic counterparts.”

Friends Alizee Fleming and Nathan Roach, both aged 22, are drinking zero alcohol cocktails in So Bar at Seadrift Distillery in Brookvale. Picture: Julian Andrews

These beers, such as Heaps Normal and James Squire Zero, can also be seen on supermarket shelves.

Mr Freudmann said many customers are turning to these beers to kick the midweek drinking habits, or to still enjoy an adult beverage while the designated driver.

“The increase of sales in this category is also a reflection of a broader trend of Australians drinking less, but better,” he said.

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Last year, Coles Group, which owns Liquorland, First Choice and others, reported that its sales of non-alcoholic drinks had roughly doubled.

And it’s not just here. American brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has announced it plans 20 per cent of all beer it sells will be non-alcoholic by 2025.

It means places such as the So Bar at Seadrift Distillery in Brookvale, which sells nothing alcoholic, could well become the new normal.

Alizee Fleming, 22, said her friend group had discovered they didn’t need alcohol to have fun.

“Lots of my friends and I go there … the drinks are actually really delicious and lots of my friends are healthy and go to the gym, and they prefer to feel fresh in the morning,” Ms Fleming said.

“We just love chatting for hours. Alcohol doesn’t really matter for us and the bar is really trendy and quite refreshing. It’s really relaxing but still feels like a bar … we don’t care about the alcohol, we are just there to chat and have a yummy drink.”

Ms Fleming said the non-alcoholic spirits made by the adjoining Seadrift Distillery still tastes like alcohol.

Co-founder of Seadrift Distillery Carolyn Whitely said when February Fast and Dry July rolls around, the bar sees a massive jump in customers.

“We are expecting Dry July to be quite big, that gives people the opportunity to try it and then we notice people come back,” she said.

“It’s also a really good place for people to just feel included and that’s one thing we weren’t necessarily expecting.

“It’s really interesting the social side of it, it really plays a role in people having conversations about alcohol in their life.”

Originally published as Non-alcoholic drinks boom in sales as pub serving zero alcohol gains popularity