Non-alcoholic Guinness could one day "outsell the real thing" amid a surge in demand from health-conscious younger drinkers, an executive at maker Diageo has said.
Guinness 0.0 makes up 3 per cent of all global sales of the Irish stout brand. Asked whether the alcohol-free alternative could overtake the original, Diageo marketing director Anna MacDonald told the Sunday Telegraph, "I think it's possible. The trend [for non-alcoholic beer] is accelerating more than we thought. It is probably slightly more pronounced within the younger generation – health and well-being is a big trend.
"It is still a relatively small percentage of people who choose not to drink alcohol at all and, in most cases, people are potentially consuming both alcoholic products and non-alcoholic products within one occasion as it helps them to moderate."
The no and low alcohol segment continues to grow in the country despite the volume sales decline in alcohol category. According to a research from IWSR, while total beverage alcohol volumes in the UK declined by 2 per cent between 2022 and 2023, the overall no and low-alcohol segment saw volume growth of 47 per cent (2022 to 2023), with forecast volume CAGR of 19 per cent (2023 to 2028).
“Whilst the grocery market struggles for volume growth, you just need to walk up the beers, wines and spirits aisle to witness an impressive display of ‘trend-bucking’ with innovation, space and range in the low and zero alcohol sector of the category exploding,” reports quoted Patrick Finlay, Managing Director of The Category Management Company, as saying.
“The trend has been emerging slowly over the past decade but has accelerated for several reasons, not least the Gen Z cohort growing its demand for taste variety, convenient formats, and healthier propositions.”
He noted that it is not by accident that this sub-sector of the BWS category has evolved at such pace. It is attributable to retailers and their suppliers methodically identifying the trends, quantifying them and developing product and in-store solutions that few other categories can stake a claim to.
