Sober October? Sales spike shows non-alcoholic beer, wine are on the drink menu year-round

Sober October is about to be a wrap, but that doesn't mean non-alcoholic beers and other booze-free beverages are off the drink menu.

The holiday season is big for mocktails and non-alcoholic options, too, and then, of course, we have Dry January. Demand for non-alcoholic beers, wines, spirits and cocktails has truly become a year-round trend – and sales are growing.

Non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits sales have increased 32% so far this year, according to data firm NIQ's tracking of sales in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandise stores over the 52-week period ending Oct. 7, compared to the previous year.

Booze-less options "are popular on holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Fourth of July … we see weekly sales spike," said Kaleigh Theriault, NIQ's associate director of beverage alcohol thought leadership, told USA TODAY. "It's giving us an indication that the consumer is looking for moderation in their drinking."

Non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits sales on the rise

Non-alcoholic sales, which totaled about $524.3 million over the past 52 weeks, are up, but still account for only a fraction of total alcoholic beverage sales of $67.6 billion, which increased 1% the past 52 weeks, according to NIQ. (Most market trackers include non-alcoholic products in their respective alcoholic product category.)

However, non-alcoholic sales have consistently climbed over the past five years and there's reason to believe they will continue to chip into that of their boozy cousins.

That's because nearly all (94%) of those who are buying non-alcoholic products, continue to buy beer, wine, spirits and other products with alcohol, according to NIQ's latest Non-Alcohol Report, looking at the 52-week period ending July 15, 2023. "They are really working these products into their repertoire," Theriault said.

"So maybe they would have opted for a soda or water, in a certain instance, or just not even consumed any type of alcohol product in an evening or an occasion," Theriault said. "But now we're seeing they are opening up a non-alcoholic beer after work or something along those lines."

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Another sign that non-alcoholic beer, especially, is catching on: Non-alcoholic beer sales make up 2% of all beer sold in grocery stores.

That trend suggests "interest in NA Beer is still very much alive and well as existing players continue to expand, new players enter the space and consumers find/introduce NA occasions into their lifestyles," says Dave Williams, vice president of analytics for Bump Williams Consulting. The Shelton, Connecticut firm services the alcoholic beverage industry and uses NIQ data tracking retail sales at supermarkets, convenience and select liquor stores.

Non-alcoholic beer sales may be "small in the big picture, it has been absolutely essential for incrementality in beer over recent years," he said.

'People still love to enjoy a beer'

When the husband and wife team Donna Hockey and Tammer Zein-El-Abedein founded Surreal Brewing Co. in Northern California in 2018, those who wanted to drink non-alcoholic beers had to sacrifice taste and variety, she said.

"We found that people wanted to choose non-alcoholic adult tasting beverages for a long time, however, there wasn’t a variety of craft non-alcoholic options available and there was a stigma associated with these beverages that made it hard to enjoy them socially," Hockey told USA TODAY.

That's why they've crafted a growing non-alcoholic beer lineup with a West Coast IPA, hazy IPA, milkshake IPA, red IPA, Kolsch, and pastry porter, while also addressing concerns of health conscious drinkers. For instance, the Chandelier Red IPA has zero sugar is Keto-friendly (5.6 grams of carbs) and has reduced gluten.

"Distributors and retailers are hearing about this growing trend from their customers and they are growing their non-alcoholic beer selections," she said.

Surreal has been one of the fastest-growing non-alcoholic beer brands on Drizly this month, compared to a year ago, the Uber-owned alcohol delivery program said. And non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits sales, overall, were up 54% in the first half of 2023, compared to a year ago, Drizly said. During Sober October, sales have risen 73% so far, compared to a year ago.

Consumers are looking to be healthier. "However, people still love to enjoy a beer regardless of whether it has alcohol," Hockey said.

Non-alcoholic products hit multiple generations

While baby boomers purchase nearly 40% of the non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits, Generation X and millennials, collectively, buy nearly 60%, NIQ's Non-Alcoholic report found.

Younger consumers, Generation Z, which spans 1997 to 2012, don't make a big share of non-alcoholic purchases yet, but they overindex for them compared to other generations – 6% of all Gen Z beer, wine and spirits purchased are non-alcoholic, NIQ says.

Generation Z consumers 21 and older are not "drinking as much as other generations had when they came of age," NIQ's Theriault said. "But these products do have a pretty high affinity with Gen Z."

The percentage of younger adults, aged 18 to 34, who say they "ever have occasion to use alcoholic beverages," has fallen from 72% to 62% over the past two decades, according to Gallup. However, more older adults, those 55-up, do use alcohol – up from 49% two decades ago to 59%. Those aged 35-54 has been stable, increasing from 67% to 69% over time, Gallup says.

Young adults, in particular, were found by Gallup to believe moderate drinking is detrimental to health. Also, an increased use of marijuana among young adults could also be a factor in alcohol use decline.

Whatever the generation, people can choose from a growing selection of non-alcoholic offerings whether at home or when they go out.

"We have customers who started with Dry January and never stopped," Scout Brisson, CEO of De Soi, which launched a line of sparkling non-alcoholic aperitifs last year and is founded by pop star Katy Perry and award-winning distiller Morgan McLachlan (Amass). De Soi, another brand favored by Drizly customers, released a new Très Rosé in June.

"De Soi super fans keep our bottles on subscription to bring as housewarming gifts," Brisson told USA TODAY. "Or they'll throw a 4-pack of cans in their bag when they're going to a party so they have a non-alc option that's a lot more interesting to drink than sparkling water with lime."

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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