The non-alcoholic beer market is surging, and that doesn’t just have to do with Dry January. According to a recent CivicScience poll, one-third of U.S. drinking age adults who sat things out last month are ‘very likely’ to change their alcohol consumption habits in light of recent research suggesting that even small amounts of alcohol can be harmful. Perhaps not coincidentally, half of those who are ‘very likely’ to change their habits have also tried non-alcoholic beer.
So what else are we seeing in the non-alcoholic beer market? Compared to a study from last October, overall interest in NA beverages is up 16% – which is impressive for a fairly niche interest in a short period of time.
While the vast majority of U.S. drinking age adults aren’t drinking non-alcoholic beer, 47% of NA beer drinkers are primarily buying NA beer at grocery stores or convenience stores, with a striking 29% close behind for online services like Drizly. Just 12% are primarily buying NA beer at bars or restaurants and an additional 12% purchase it at beer distributors.
According to the latest data, it is overwhelmingly a young person’s game, with just 31% of adults aged 21-24 claiming they don’t drink non-alcoholic beer. As a result, that age group significantly over-indexes for buying non-alcoholic beer at grocery / convenience stores and online services. Younger Millennials (25-34) are also much more likely than the Gen Pop to buy NA beer at a physical or online store.
As an increasing number of beer brands enter the non-alcoholic arena, CivicScience looked at which companies currently have a leg up on the competition. Per the latest favorability data, Lagunitas’ IPNA and Athletic Brewing’s non-alcoholic offerings lead the pack – with everyone else hovering around 20% favorability. (Coors Edge is currently at the bottom of the favorability rankings, with 19% favorable and the highest unfavorables polled at 36%.)
That said, every brand polled registered a plurality of respondents as ‘neutral’ – so there’s still room for plenty of movement as more drinking-age adults dip their toes into the NA space.
Although non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beer has been around in the U.S. since the Prohibition era, its popularity has yet to fully crest, if recent shifts in consumer interest are any indication. Want to know the latest industry secrets in non-alcoholic beer before your competitors do? Let’s chat.
