We were intrigued to know if the research mirrored what we’ve seen from our own alcohol free drinks community and was excited to learn more about the market trends and what consumers think and need.

We'd like to thank KAM and Lucky Saint for commissioning this report and also Trip, Pentire Drinks, REAL, Brimful Drinks and all the other businesses for their input too.

Here’s Leanne's summary of the event and some interesting statistics from the report...

The Low+No Launch Event

I travelled down on the train to London from Wakefield, on a hot July morning, and was looking forward to hearing the findings of the report from the alcohol free consumer perspective, networking with some new and existing contacts in the alcohol free world, as well as sampling some AF drinks of course!

The event was held at a cool place called Bounce, the ultimate Ping Pong experience, in Holborn although I gave the table tennis a miss on this occasion!

Upon registration I was met with another friendly northerner from KAM who instantly recognised my accent and showed me down to the drinks tasting and networking area.

The first alcohol free drinks brand I came across was Mocktails. After a long train and tube journey, I was delighted to be met with a fantastic choice of alcohol free, nitro charged, ready to drink cocktails! Ash, the Mocktail Maker, served up a thirst-quenching Sansgria which hit the spot nicely! 

Coincidently, the next person I bumped into was Pooja from Mocktails who has offered to send some samples of the full range of Mocktails, including the new Espress0% Martini, to NonTox HQ…watch this space for our views on the range of Mocktails!

I also got chance to chat with and sample drinks from:

Lucky Saint (AF lager)

Trip (CBD drinks)

Pentire Drinks (naturally distilled botanicals)

REAL (naturally fermented sparkling tea/Kombucha)

After a bit of networking with representatives from some of the best brands in the alcohol free world, it was time to take a seat and find out what the latest trends and insights were in the AF industry.

There were various speakers and panel debates which included a wide range of industry representatives including:

Laura Willoughby - Club Soda

Hannah Johnson - Marston’s Pubs

Dom Dalton – Trip Drinks

Ed Gerard – Mocktails

David Begg – REAL Sparkling Tea

Luke Boase – Lucky Saint

Christine Parkinson – Brimful Drinks

It was great to hear the views from different perspectives and the conversations certainly gave me lots of food for thought!

Whether you're a consumer, brand or just interested in alcohol free drinks, we thought we'd share with you some statistics from the report.

Alcohol Consumption Statistics

The report looked at 4 different ‘alcohol consumption profiles’ as follows:

Teetotaler – 0 units per week – 13 % of UK population

Low – 0-10 units per week – 58% of UK population

Medium – 11-20 units per week – 20% of UK population

High – 21 units + per week – 9% of UK population

We believe that many of the NonToxicated community fall into the ‘Low’ category.

12 Interesting Alcohol Free Drinks Industry Statistics

The Low+No Report is full of statistics relating to alcohol free drinks consumers. We’ve picked out some of the most interesting ones for you, the NonToxicated community. 

Interesting Stat 1 - 55% of consumers say they are looking to reduce their alcohol consumption over the next 12 months

The main reasons for Teetotalers not consuming alcohol:

·        41% To save money

·        36% General health reasons

·        32% To have more energy

·        32% To improve physical health

·        27% To improve mental health

The main reasons for the ‘Low’ category not consuming alcohol:

·        35% To save money

·        30% To improve physical health

·        29% To lose weight

·        28% To improve fitness

·        26% To maintain a healthier liver

Please note, people were allowed to choose more than one answer to each question hence the percentages totalling more than 100%.

Interesting Stat 2 - The drinks that the 'low' category would most likely order in pubs, bars and restaurants is Traditional Soft Drinks!

Interesting Stat 3 – 29% (nearly 1 in 3) of pub visits do not include any alcohol consumption

Interesting Stat 4 - 37% of consumers drink Low and No at home at least once a week, compared to 25% out-of-home

Interesting Stat 5 - 54% of consumers discover new low & non alcoholic drinks in supermarkets specifically

Interesting Stat 6 - 1 in 10 Millennials find it difficult to find AF products when in store

Interesting Stat 7 – There have been significant increases in quality perception across all categories since last year, with the largest increase coming from the beer category

Interesting Stat 8 - Pub and bars have a higher rating for range than restaurants, but both are behind supermarkets. 40% say that pubs/bars have an ‘average’ range (this is 47% for restaurants), and nearly 1 in 5 believe restaurants have a poor selection (1 in 7 for pubs/bars)

Interesting Stat 9 – Consumers find it difficult to see what Low and No drinks are available in venues. 1 in 5 for pubs / 1 in 4 for restaurants

Interesting Stat 10 – Price remains a barrier to purchase for consumers across all age groups

Interesting Stat 11 - Awareness of AF beer has grown from 66% in 2020 to 79% in 2022. A rise in awareness of 20%. Nearly 8 in 10 of all consumers are aware of AF beer as a category with 2 in 5 having tried it within the last 12 months.

Interesting Stat 12 – 72% of UK adults have tried a low or no alcoholic drink

There are many more statistics included in the report but we wanted to highlight the ones relevant to you as consumers.

It was also noted that awareness and consumption of alcohol-free/Low and No has increased, year-on-year, and is now at an all-time high. Taste and quality remain the main drivers for consumer choice.

The NonToxicated View

We think the research carried out by KAM has been really useful and certainly shows that the alcohol free industry is growing, and the future looks bright for alcohol free drinks consumers and brands alike!

While progress has been made, the fact that consumers that fall into the ‘low’ category are still predominantly purchasing traditional soft drinks when visiting pubs and restaurants, shows that venues are falling behind in catering for the growing number of consumers looking to purchase alcohol free drinks when going out to eat or drink.  Hopefully the publication of this report and other hard work being done in the industry will force change. The representatives from the bar & restaurant industry certainly acknowledged these issues when talking at the event and are onboard with the fact that they can, and must do better.

Taste, quality, price and availability of alcohol free drinks are key areas that are important to consumers, which is in alignment with what the NonToxicated community tell us. We hope that next year’s report shows improvement in these areas.

Supermarkets are the place that the majority of consumers discover new alcohol free drinks but millennials find it hard to find these products in store!   This is one of the reasons that we launched the NonToxicated App...a directory of alcohol free drinks with links for consumers to buy direct from the top AF brands!  We've got over 1000 products listed so you're bound to discover more drinks than you will in the Supermarket!

It has been interesting to see the reasons that people are opting more and more for alcohol free drinks and it was no surprise to find that money and health were the main reasons.  There's lots of conversations in the NonToxicated Facebook Group about sugar content!

We’re seeing and hearing more and more conversations about alcohol free drinks both on and offline and we are sure the NonToxicated Community will continue to grow exponentially, and all you alcohol free drinks enthusiasts will see more of your friends and family accepting your choices and even joining you in enjoying an AF tipple...or two!

NonToxicated is a community of alcohol free drinks enthusiasts and we'd love you to join the NonToxicated Revolution if you haven't already! We've got a friendly Facebook Group where you can ask for advice, read reviews, find out about new AF products etc. We've got over 1000 AF products listed on our App which can be searched by brand name or category.  There's an offers section which has a list of brands offering a discount code and you can even create a wishlist!  We hope to see you there soon!