Retailers Expand Non-Alcohol Sections, Catering To Health-Conscious Consumers
February 9, 2024Drinks retailers have been expanding their non-alcohol offerings, particularly during the start of the year, as more consumers take to the Dry January trend. Suppliers have been responding as well, rolling out a steady stream of non-alcoholic wines, spirits, and beers.
At Julio’s Liquors in Westborough, Massachusetts, owner Ryan Maloney has launched a new non-alcoholic retail section. “We consolidated all of the non-alcoholic wine, beer, and spirits together, including the specialty RTDs, in an easy-to-shop area,” he says. “We figured it would be easy to launch it during January when everybody is focused on it.”
Maloney notes that even though the NA segment is relatively small, it’s one of the fastest-growing beverage categories. “We were probably 70 to 80 SKUs last year, and now we are close to 150 SKUs,” he says. “Liquor stores are the best place to sell it because we have people coming in and looking for it. We’re used to the flavor profile. We’re used to helping people put cocktails together. We are the educators of the beverage alcohol categories.”
Top-selling NA brands at Julio’s include St. Agrestis Phony Negroni ($8 a 750-ml.), Yu No NA spirits ($40 a 750-ml.), Ritual NA spirits (all $30 a 750-ml), and Lyre’s NA spirits ($30 a 750-ml.) and RTDs ($4 a 750-ml.), such as American Malt & Cola and Dark ’N Spicy. “The real way to do these alcohol-free spirits is to put them in cocktails,” Maloney says. “It replaces what you are missing—the alcohol part—and gives you the flavor of rum, gin, or whiskey in the cocktail. Most of them are not meant to be consumed straight.”
In response to consumer demand, Julio’s NA section segment is receiving a lot of attention. “We are taking customer suggestions and trying different things,” Maloney says. “It’s constantly changing and evolving depending on what customers want and what we find works. You have to cultivate and curate your selection. People are getting more sophisticated.”
In neighboring New York, meanwhile, beverage alcohol retailers are prohibited from selling NA products, but Mark O’Callaghan at Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park says the effects of Dry January were apparent in his store last month. “We have to sell things that are at least 1% alcohol,” O’Callaghan says. “We get requests all the time for non-alcoholic wines and spirits. Non-alcoholic whiskies are becoming a big thing. The NA category is low volume, but there is growth.”
Suppliers across wine, spirits, and beer are picking up on the opportunity. The last month has seen a variety of launches, including non-alcohol spirits entries like Amaro Lucano Non-Alcoholic from Kobrand; wines like Mionetto Alcohol-Removed Sparkling Wine, Kylie Minogue sparkling rosé from Evaton, and Relax Zero Chardonnay from Delicato; and beers like Paulaner USA’s Paulaner Weizen Radler 0.0%, among others.
“Even though you are starting from a small baseline, you have people very interested in it,” Maloney says. “It creates more excitement and brings more customers into the store.”
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