Dry January and resolutions fuel boosted sales for the non-alcoholic beverage industry
Alcohol-free drink companies are in for a ‘delayed Christmas’ with a significant uplift in sales as Australians partake in Dry January and new year’s resolutions.
‘Dry January’ and new year’s resolutions have the non-alcoholic beverage industry bubbling into 2023 as businesses forecast a significant uplift in sales.
The event first came about in 2013 from an Alcohol Change UK campaign which encouraged people to reflect on their relationship with alcohol, while abstaining from it.
The concept has given rise to a flood of businesses specialising in non-alcoholic beers, wines, spirits and cocktails, like Monday Distillery, who generate about 40 per cent of its annual revenue during the festive season and into the new year.
Its founder Sam Manning said the brand expected to rake in $500,000 during this period, with the signature gin and tonic to lead the sales.
“I think the cultural shift around alcohol has happened and that’s why the non-alcoholic drink space has had so much growth in the last few years,” she said.
Aboriginal owned and led alcohol-free craft beer business Sobah is also expecting a 25 to 30 per cent uplift in sales for January.
Gamilaroi man and Sobah director Dr Clinton Schultz, who made the decision to go sober on Christmas eight years ago, said he started his business to showcase a better drinking culture for his three young boys.
“I grew up on the Gold Coast and it was known for its partying scene and I gave it a good crack over 15 to 20 years,
“I made a decision that I just wasn’t going to drink anymore because I wanted my children to have an opportunity to see what life is like without alcohol, so I had to create that because it’s unfortunately not the Australian normal,” Dr Schultz said.
“You go to a one year old birthday party and you see people drinking … I’ve got three boys, they’re going be young men, they’re still going make stupid mistakes but at least I hope I’ve given them something to base some decisions and choices on.”
Sobah is forecasting profits to reach between about $160,000 to $200,000 this month.
Lyre’s co-founders Carl Hartmann and Mark Livings described the first month of the year as their ‘delayed Christmas’ in terms of boosted sales with profits four times higher than usual.
The non-alcoholic spirits business was established just three years ago and now operates in 104 global markets, with their products able to recreate 99 per cent of the world’s cocktails.
“Dry July is truly a global thing, having a break from alcohol is not a new concept but it’s certainly developed an incredible momentum over the course of the last decade,” the co-founders said
The popular brand is also an official partner of the Dry January movement and works with the Dry July Foundation in Australia and New Zealand.
“When we’re doing something like dry January, we find that we recruit an enormous amount of people into our brands that use our products for the first time and after they typically adopt that into their portfolio and have a more balanced approach to drinking.”
Heaps Normal chief executive officer and co-founder Andy Miller said his company has been growing about 40 per cent in sales a month and that this January he expects to see about a 50 per cent increase.
“I think for some people, Dry January is a great stepping stone to kick off a reduction in alcohol consumption. Temporary sobriety initiatives are not always right for everybody as it can put additional pressures on ourselves, but I think definitely, it‘s a positive thing,” Mr Miller said.
“We don’t think alcohol is the enemy, we just want to normalise a more mindful approach to alcohol.”
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