Looking Back at 2020-2021 and Forecasting for the Future

As Covid’s ripple effect across the hospitality industry shook beverage alcohol sales in 2020-21, one beverage category stood out as a steady-growing superstar as consumers seek new ways to experience and enjoy beverages. The no- and low-alcohol category has been on the rise throughout the pandemic and beyond, and is projected to grow more than thirty percent by 2024, with key global markets including the U.S., Spain, South Africa and Germany. 

While the no- and low- segment is dominated by NA beers and ciders with 92% of current global product offerings, now- and low- sub-categories are gaining market share, including nonalcoholic spirits, RTDs, and wines. These segments are each expected to grow by 2024, with NA spirits expected to see a growth rate of 14% and RTDs and wines expected to grow 7-8% by volume over the next three years. 

While we look to the future growth of these categories, recently released data for the past 52 weeks backs up these predictions. NielsenIQ’s SVP of Account Development, Kim Cox, recently joined a panel at the Distilled Spirits Council’s 2021 DISCUS conference, and shared the below insights about the category:

• No and low-alcohol beverages sold $3.1 billion off-premise in the latest 52 weeks (+10.4%), with non-alcoholic sales owning $331 million (+33.2%) of the category and low-alcoholic sales contributing $2.77 billion (+8.1%) 
• There was a 315% increase in online no- and low- dollar sales in the past 12 months versus a 26% increase in alcoholic beer, wine and spirits e-commerce sales
• In the past year, no-alcohol beers, fermented malt beverages and ciders have seen a 31.7% increase in sales, while no-alcohol wines have seen a 39.4% increase, and NA spirits have seen a remarkable 113.4% gain in sales
• In the past year, low-alcohol beers, fermented malt beverages and ciders have seen a 4.5% increase in sales, while low-alc wines have seen a 18% increase, and low-ABV spirits have risen 8.5%

Says Cox, “There are many health and wellness trends emerging across center store that are causing alcohol consumers to take a second look at their beverages. While non-alcoholic beer has been available to consumers for many years, there are now more no/low alcoholic wines, spirits and beer options available than ever before. These new innovations better meet health and wellness desires of certain consumers such as lower ABV, lower sugar, lower calorie or sustainable sourcing practices. The market for no/low alcoholic beverages is still relatively small at less than 5% household penetration, but is an interesting area to watch, as it now represents $3.1B in sales and a 3.5% total alcohol market share.”

As we watch this trend continue to develop across the globe, BevZero’s consolidated services and equipment will continue to support growing consumer demands for new products to enter the marketplace.