Alcohol-Free Booze Is Becoming Big Business

But will it ever be as good?

Dry January is under way. After the excesses of the festive period, nearly one-third of Americans are expected to give up, or at least cut down on, alcohol this month. Many will save money. Some will lose weight. And a growing number will still continue to drink their favourite tipple – or at least something close to it.

The teetotallers and "sober curious" are no longer restricted to fizzy drinks, fruit juice or plain old water. The market for non-alcoholic booze – including beer, wine and spirits – has been flying of late. Global sales came to nearly US$20 billion (S$27.4 billion) in 2023, according to the latest data from Euromonitor, a research firm, double the amount of five years before. The market grew by roughly 20 per cent in 2023, compared with 8 per cent for alcoholic drinks. How big will it get?

Demand for alcohol-free drinks is not limited to Dry January. A growing number of health-conscious young people are going sober all year round. The share of Americans aged 18 to 34 who drink alcohol has dropped to 62 per cent, according to the latest figures from Gallup, a pollster, compared with 72 per cent two decades earlier.

Many who do booze are having fewer drinks; "zebra-striping", or alternating between alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks, is in vogue.

More people may join the sober trend if America's surgeon-general gets his way. On Jan 3, he called for alcoholic drinks to come with a label warning of their carcinogenic effects.

In response to all this, many booze giants have been developing alcohol-free lines.