Americans have already been ditching spirits and beer. Alcohol companies are future proofing themselves
New York
CNN
—
Friday's warning from the US surgeon general that alcohol is a "well-established, preventable cause of cancer" is perhaps a wakeup call for millions of Americans, but it's the worst-case scenario that many beer and spirits companies have been preparing for over the years.
Major brewers, including Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, and spirit giants such as Diageo and Pernord Ricard, have all grown their portfolios with new non-alcoholic drinks to attract an increasing number of consumers, particularly younger ones, who are ditching drinking because of health concerns.
A Gallup poll from August found that almost half of Americans say that having one or two drinks a day is bad for a person's health, the highest percentage recorded in the survey's 23 years, and younger adults were most likely to say drinking is bad for health. The poll also showed that just 58% of adults said they drink alcohol, down from 67% in 2022, although Gallup notes it's relatively close to the historical average of 63% going back to 1939.
Smirnoff-maker Diageo bought Ritual Zero Proof last year.
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But that doesn't predict a doomsday scenario for Big Alcohol. It actually could be good for their bottom lines: A December report from IWSR, a leading drinks analysis firm, said that the non-alcoholic drinks global market is "experiencing a transformative period of growth, driven by evolving consumer behaviors and the momentum of no-alcohol."
Whiskey or cognac glass with ice and bottle in a hand on a wooden background.
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The trend, to be led by the United States, is expected to grow by $4 billion by 2028 in the firm's forecast. Non-alcoholic drinks are even "skewing younger than the core buyer demographic across markets, and demonstrate higher frequency and intensity of consumption," signaling that there's a sustained thirst for booze-less beverages.
Coors first saw signs of the trend in 2019 when it repositioned itself as the Molson Coors Beverage Company and expanded its lineup beyond its flagship Miller Lite and Coors Light beers.
"Beer will always be at the heart of what we do, but we know there's an enormous opportunity with non-alc and that's why we've committed to making it an important part of our business," Kevin Nitz, Molson Coors Beverage Company's vice president of non-alcohol products, said in a 2023 blog post.
Since then, it's expanded into zero-sugar energy drinks, non-alcoholic beers like Peroni 0.0 and, this year, is bringing a popular zero-proof Australian canned cocktail alternative called Naked Life to US shelves. Nitz said that sales of the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink category is up nearly 70% in the US over the past year.
Meanwhile, rival Anheuser-Busch InBev is focusing on its lineup of non-alcoholic beers, which includes Budweiser Zero, Stella Artois 0.0, O'Doul's, Corona Cero and, rolling out this month, Michelob Ultra Zero. Although it doesn't break out specific numbers, the company said in its 2023 annual report that its non-alcoholic beers "continued to outperform, delivering high-teens revenue growth."
Even smaller craft breweries, which have struggled in recent years, are cashing in on the non-alcoholic craze. The largest craft brewer making non-alcoholic beers is Athletic Brewing Company, which is now the top-selling beer at Whole Foods.
