IRI: Digging into the non-alcoholic numbers

We’ve seen more and more Aussies embrace no and low alcohol products over recent years as consumers look to moderate their alcohol consumption. The non-alcoholic category continues to evolve, now valued at $141.2M and seeing growth +66 per cent vs YA, growing well above the total liquor category and showing no sign of slowing down as more brands enter the category.

While non-alcoholic beer has been around in the market for some time, the largest recent growth driver is innovation across the board, with new products developing to meet the growing needs of consumers looking for lower ABV, lower sugar and lower calorie options. The overall market is still small with lower household penetration, but recent trends show that post-COVID shoppers are looking to cut down on their alcohol consumption with household penetration of liquor dropping -2.4 per cent vs YA (Liquor Weighted, MAT to 27/3/22).

Beer has been the key category standout holding the lion share within the total non-alcoholic category, with nearly 72 per cent share. Total non-alcoholic beer is now valued at $89.3M and showing no signs of slowing down, seeing incremental growth of +$32.5M vs YA with the majority of sales driven by liquor channels (70 per cent share).

Heineken is still the number one brand for total sales, delivering $23.7M (latest MAT) and seeing growth +16 per cent vs YA, but with the recent innovations in 2021, Great Northern Zero has overtaken in terms of actual growth, delivering $18.2M growth for the category this year. We’ve also seen the rise of smaller breweries who are innovating in this space, for example with the likes of Heaps Normal and Athletic Brewing Co, which are seeing success after building up social media followings for their non-alcoholic products within the craft beer space.

Interestingly we haven’t seen the same momentum from cider, being the only non-alcoholic category to see decline, dropping nine per cent (value) vs YA. There is a need for innovation and large brands to rupture the segment and drive growth, which we have seen from other segments, with cider only holding two per cent share of the total non-alcoholic category. Kopparberg is the lead brand in the segment for sales, delivering $1.2M across grocery and liquor, but it’s starting to see decline. While the cider market is more mature than other segments, it will be interesting to keep an eye on whether the category is able to innovate to grow.

Despite the challenges in producing high quality non-alcoholic wine, thissegment continues to perform well, now valued at $35.1M and seeing strong growthof +$20.9M vs YA (+66 per cent).

Both liquor and grocery have driven growth for non-alcoholic wine, withnearly an equal split of sales between each channel. Grocery continues to drivethe strongest growth for wine (+71.5 per cent) and sees dominance of larger winebrands including Edenvale and McGuigan, that together make up nearly 96 percent of total sales for the segment. It will be interesting to keep an eye on smallerniche brands that are launching in this space, including Plus Minus which hasseen increased ranging in grocery outlets. We have also seen large manufacturerAccolade come out with a new zero alcohol range, launching Hardy’s Zero in Coles,and we expect other large manufacturers to continue to adapt portfolio prioritiesto push ranging of non-alcoholic products.

Non-alcoholic spirits and RTD are the categories to watch right now. Despitebeing smaller in size, they are seeing the largest number of new entrants, fromGordon’s to smaller craft distilleries including Brunswick Aces. Gordon’s Zeromade a splash with its launch in July last year in both RTD and larger format 750mlpack sizes, and has driven an incremental $694K for the category since launching.

Non-alcoholic RTD has overtaken non-alcoholic spirits in terms of categoryshare, sitting at nearly seven per cent and seeing strong growth in the last year with the market now valued at $8.6M driven by growth in the last year.

Source: IRI Market Edge Australia Grocery & Convenience & Liquor WeightedMarket, MAT to 04/03/2022

These two recently launched non-alcoholicproducts are sure to excite your customers.

The world’s first alcohol-removed New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, sporting a fresh new look! Zero per cent alcohol and 100 per cent flavour. Plus, for the healthconscious consumer, there’s 80 per cent fewer calories than traditional 12.5 per cent ABV Sauvignon Blanc, with only 13 calories per 100ml serve.

Giesen Group is taking the no alcohol wine category seriously, investing over a million dollars in their own specialised spinning cone technology to further refine the Giesen 0% wine range. It makes for the perfect Savvy choice! Also featuring in the popular range is non-alcoholic rosé, Pinot Gris and Merlot.

Super tasty, super juicy and super fresh. The latest no alcohol Sidewinder beers are fruity and finally here. Sidewinder Lime XPA with zingy lime, citrus hops, a malty backbone and mediumlow bitterness means good times can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere.

Sidewinder Passionfruit XPA melds juicy passionfruit with tropical hops and biscuity malts to give an eminently crushable expression of sunshine in a can. Sidewinder XPA Deluxe shines with grapefruit and pineapple alongside spicy and slightly floral notes and the proper bitterness expected from an XPA. From by the award-winning team at Brick Lane and its world-class brewery, which allows unique precision and yeast management to brew the Sidewinder beers to less than 0.5 per cent ABV, while giving each XPA beer a full flavour profile naturally from the fermentation process.