Non-alcoholic beer sales up by 129%

Non-alcoholic beer here saw growth of 129% between 2017 and 2020 as a host of new additions and innovations appeared on the market.

Having become increasingly popular here in recent years, the non-alcoholic beer trend is set to continue in 2022, according to Drinks Ireland|Beer, which represents Irish beer makers.

The array of non-alcoholic beers now available offers consumers great tasting alternatives if they’re driving, cutting back or simply looking to try something new, states Drinks Ireland|Beer.

While popular all year-round, non-alcoholic beers are particularly in-demand among beer-lovers during Dry January and new data from the ibec body estimates that non-alcoholic beer sales in Ireland grew from 1.79 million litres in 2017 to 4.12 million litres in 2020.

Meanwhile, its share of the beer market jumped by 175% during this time, from 0.4% in 2017 to 1.1%.

Drinks Ireland|Beer says that beer sales across the board were heavily impacted by Covid-19 and the closure of hospitality venues. While it anticipates that non-alcoholic beer sales will have dropped slightly in 2021, sales nevertheless remained strong and it expects that the category will have maintained its growing market share.

Internationally, IWSR has predicted that the non-alcoholic beer category will grow annually by 8.7% between 2021 and 2025.

“While January has become a popular month for people to cut back or abstain from alcohol, interest in No- and Low-alcohol drinks has increasingly become a year-round trend among consumers across the world,” says Emily Neill, Chief Operating Officer for IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, “To meet that demand, beverage alcohol companies have invested heavily to introduce a number of innovative new products and many established mainstream brands have recently crossed over to develop NoLo alcohol versions of their popular beer, wines and spirits.”

“We see from the latest international data that the category is set to continue growing globally in the coming years and we expect this to be reflected here in Ireland too as non-alcoholic beer goes from strength-to-strength,” said Drinks Ireland|Beer’s Jonathan McDade, “And there’s never been more choice for beer drinkers here in Ireland, with a range of new products from emerging and existing producers hitting the market in recent years.”

The IWSR study also found that only 5% to 6% of NoLo consumers drink it after 11pm, so many NoLo brands targeting late-night partying and dark spirits occasions have found it tougher to gain consumer acceptance.