Big Drop brews up alcohol-free multipacks

Alcohol-free brewer, Big Drop, is creating a series of packaging solutions that are designed to appeal specifically to the wholesale, convenience and cash & carry markets.

Cases of 12 x 330ml cans are being outer-wrapped in Big Drop’s distinctive style of labelling and will contain either four or 12 packs of its most popular 0.5 per cent abv SKUs – Paradiso Citra IPA and Pine Trail Pale Ale. Pine Trail is the only alcohol-free beer to have twice won "World’s Best" at the World’s Beer Awards, while Paradiso has not only won a World’s Best but was also UK winner in a full-strength IPA category at the World Beer Awards, beating six per cent abv beers into second and third place.

The new formats will also include the boldly-styled "Big Explorer" and "Big Hello" eight-can boxes that were trialled in Waitrose last year and cater for the growing number of ‘sober-curious’ consumers looking to try different styles of AF beer.

Big Drop currently has most of the UK covered via wholesalers including Nectar, Eebria and Matthew Clarke. It is, however, underrepresented in the cash & carry and convenience world and keen to address this imbalance with new hires, including Tom Reilly, who recently joined the brewer from Kopparberg as a National Account Manager.

According to IWSR, two in five UK Adults are now no- and low-alcohol buyers with beer and cider being the largest category at 75 per cent volume share and sales of beer increasing by 17 per cent in 2001. The market is also forecast to grow more than ten times as quickly as regular alcoholic drinks.

“Retailer feedback and the trends on our own webshop tell us that consumers are increasingly confident to purchase Big Drop in larger formats as well as actively exploring the wider range of styles on offer," said Rob Fink, Co-Founder and CEO. "The no and low beer category has so far been led by the multiples in the UK, but C&C and Convenience are now sitting up and paying attention. Our packaging certainly draws attention and will give stockists the opportunity to have bold, vibrant pallet displays in depots that will drive trial and engagement with the retailers.”