Drink it in: What brands need to know about the rise of low- and no-alcohol options
Streetbees spoke to over 7,000 people all over the world to test the waters on low-alcohol and alcohol-free drinks
Drinking is changing — millennial and Gen Z consumers are drinking less alcohol than ever before, and the number of alcohol-free or low-alcohol options in bars, restaurants and shops around the globe is exploding.
Of course, brands are looking to establish themselves a new foothold in the still-growing, $1.3 trillion drinks market. And, as always, with great change comes great opportunity — especially if they can keep one eye on the horizon.
To find out what consumers really make of it all, we asked over 7,000 of our users — or ‘bees’ — across the world what they think of low and no-alcohol options.
All respondents were over the legal alcohol-purchasing age of their respective countries.
The next big thing?
When it comes to whether low alcohol drinks are the new order, it’s important to note that these drinks are already in widespread consumption.
Of all our respondents worldwide, over two-thirds (68%) say that they have already tried some form of low-alcohol drink, and well over half (58%) say they’ve drunk an alcohol-free option, such as a non-alcoholic beer. 47% say they would drink a low-alcohol drink at least once a month.
So how do people view the differences between the alcoholic and non-alcoholic options, then? Well, their priorities are a little different.
When asked when they would be mostly likely to drink full-alcohol beverages, by far the most popular occasions were when hanging out with friends (65%), on a night out (55%) and at special events like weddings or graduations (52%).
For non-alcoholic options, results are more varied — the top option is still when hanging out with friends, but only at 41% this time. 30% say they would go for one on a night out, almost the same popularity as those who would drink them at family gatherings (29%).
The biggest outlier, though? Meal-time.
Opening a non-alcoholic drink to have with a meal is the second most popular occasion for them at 36% — far ahead of alcoholic options. While hardly an insignificant number, just 27% of people say they would drink an alcoholic drink on the same occasion — that’s the seventh most popular option for full-alcohol.
That is linked to what drinkers think is important in a drink that doesn’t have any other… ‘effects’. Almost 6 in 10 (69%) of our bees said that taste was the most important factor for them when considering a low-alcoholic option. This means that drinkers of non-alcoholic options are doing it for the flavour, not the effects.
“A girls’ drink”?
Changes in attitude emerge when looking at the differences between the genders.
Male drinkers are less convinced by the prospect of low- or no-alcohol drinks. Well over one-third (38%) of men surveyed worldwide told us that they think they are pointless, compared to just 1 in 5 women (20%).
They also fancy themselves more discerning when it comes to the taste, too — over half (51%) of our male bees think that they can tell the difference when it comes to taste, and prefer full-alcohol options. For women, that number drops down to just 35%.
On the other hand, women are slightly more likely to have tried both a low-alcohol and alcohol-free beverage than their male counterparts. Over 7 in 10 (71%) say that they’ve given a low-alcohol option a try, and 61% an alcohol-free option. For men, those numbers fall to 63% and 52% respectively.
Interestingly, while both agree that the taste of a low-alcohol drink is the most important, men are actually a little more concerned by the health benefits they might provide than women — almost 1 in 5 (17%) of men say that how good it is for them is an important concern. For women, it’s less (15%.)
Additionally — despite their apparent increased apprehension of them — more men than women actually think that low/non-alcoholic options will keep increasing in popularity.
When asked whether they agreed with the statement “Low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks will eventually be more popular than alcoholic drinks”, 41% of men agreed, compared to under one-third (28%) of women.
A world of difference
Our bees weren’t just split across gender lines, either. All over the world, attitudes to the idea of low-alcoholic drinks varied.
The UK, for example — a country where 97% of our respondents say they have drunk alcohol in the past — bucks the general worldwide trend with no-alcohol actually out-performing low-alcohol, though admittedly only just. Over two-thirds (68%) of Brits have tried an alcohol-free drink, slightly more than low-alcohol (67%).
The vast majority of Brits also place even more importance on taste than their international peers — a huge 69% said that flavour was most important to them if buying a low-alcohol beverage, followed — again unlike the global average of 10% — by price (14%).
Internationally, 16% of people said they considered how good it was for their health to be a major factor in their decision to buy a low-alcohol option. For Brits? Just 4%.
From Russia (and elsewhere), with love
In Russia, people are actually even more comfortable with the prospect of alcohol-lite and non-alcoholic drinks. 84% of Russians say they have already tried a low-alcohol option, and 68% non-alcohol. It is one of the least skeptical regions in the world when it comes to the value of options like these — just 15% think that they are pointless, compared to a 26% worldwide average.
Russia is also amongst the strictest of nations when it comes to attitudes to youth-drinking. Just 1 in 5 (20%) of our Russian bees think that low-alcohol options should be served to consumers under the age of 18 — compared to a majority of Brits (51%) and a staggering 60% of Brazilians.
In general, markets in the developing world are more concerned with the health impact that low-alcohol drinks can have. Compared to the UK’s 4% and US’s 8%, over 1 in 5 people (21%) in Indonesia, the Philippines and Kenya say they think how good drinks are for their health is a major concern.
What does this mean for brands?
To begin with, when it comes to an approach to low/non-alcoholic drinks, brands need to be aware of the incredibly varied drinking cultures around the world. With that in mind, they should arm themselves with as much local knowledge as possible to work out where their advantages lie when it comes to new product development.
In Asia, for example, where consumers are more concerned with their health, championing the health benefits of lower-alcohol options might be key. But in a region like the UK, where the vast majority of consumers appear to think little about the health impact and focus heavier on the taste and price instead, building an affordable and true-to-the-real-thing tasting product will likely end up with better results. It’s all about that local knowledge.
Since low- and non-alcoholic drinks are already more popular with women than men, there is a double opportunity here for brands: a chance to play their advantage with the female consumer-base to normalise low-alcoholic drinks even further, especially amongst the rapidly changing cultures of millennial drinkers. For men, brands should be seeking to establish a foothold in the market — focusing on a realistic taste, to try and escape the male-oriented stigma that they can tell the difference.
A clear focus — on the right aspects in the right place — and brands will soon be drinking up the sales.
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from 7,479 Streetbees community members in the UK, US, France, Italy, Russian, Brazil, Kenya, South Africa, Indonesia and the Philippines, carried out in July/August 2018. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 3 percentage points 9 times out of 10.
