Bill Shufelt, CEO and Co-Founder of Athletic Brewing Company, talks about how the non-alcoholic beer brand has been able to stay competitive and become one of the top 10 craft breweries in the United States.
Waves of companies, including those owned by celebrities, are entering the non-alcoholic beer market, which is gaining traction among a wide range of consumers.
Bump Williams, CEO of Bump Williams Consulting, predicts growth in this sector over the next decade, with double-digit increases expected for at least the next five years.
“Drinking non-alcoholic beer today is not what it was 25 years ago, when only people recovering from alcoholism drank non-alcoholic beer. It is now an accepted lifestyle choice. ,” Williams said. “New 21+ consumers are thinking more about health and wellness, control, moderation, and “taste/flavor” than older (non-alcoholic) consumers. ”
Non-alcoholic beer, once a popular Dry January brand and seen as an alternative to alcoholism, has made great strides in the industry, and in some cases is outperforming alcoholic beverages, experts say. It is said that it sometimes contains. This shows that it’s no longer a passing fad, and the recent launch of Vero, a premium option created by CEO John Herman and actor Tom Holland, is a sign that this consumer behavior This further emphasizes the changes.
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“While we don’t want to say no to moments that create memories, we will continue to see a growth in people being more careful about what they put in their bodies,” Herman told Fox Business. “Alcoholic beer is the closest to the real thing. It’s almost 1:1 in flavor and experience. Some other categories don’t have the same 1:1.”
The company began distributing the product this week in restaurants across New York and Los Angeles.
A new premium non-alcoholic beverage, Bero, was launched in the US this week. (Bello)
Evercore ISI analyst Robert Ottenstein cites “the creation of super-premium (non-alcoholic beers) like Vero” as one of the many drivers behind the category’s growth.
But he also highlighted several other important factors contributing to this trend. These include a growing emphasis on moderation, advances in brewing technology that have led to better-tasting non-alcoholic beers, and the “marketing power” of major companies like AB-InBev. Constellation Brands and Molson Coors have helped develop non-alcoholic versions of their beers that offer a unique taste.
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“All of this creates critical mass among beer distributors and retailers, legitimizing the category and making the product increasingly available on and off-premises,” Ottenstein said. “In restaurants and grocery stores, consumers expect more and more (non-alcoholic) beer and variety.”
Bero co-founders Tom Holland and John Herman; (Bello)
Ottenstein predicted that “this category will continue to grow much faster than regular beer and could at some point represent more than 5% of the total U.S. market.”
We are far from where this category first started.
Demand for beer is at an “all-time high,” said Bill Shufelt, co-founder and CEO of Athletic Brewing Company, which currently has more than 19% market share in the non-alcoholic beer category. He said that there is.
Bill Shufelt, founder and CEO of Athletic Brewing Company. (Athletic Brewing Company)
In 2018, when the company began selling beer commercially, non-alcoholic beer was “the sleepiest category,” accounting for just 0.3% of total beer sales, Shufeldt said.
“When we launched in 2018, some industry experts scoffed at the idea of building a brewery exclusively for non-alcoholic beer,” he said. “They questioned whether there was enough consumer demand for non-alcoholic beer to support our ambitions, prompting us to also consider producing full-strength beer. Thankfully, we didn’t listen.”
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A can of non-alcoholic beer from Athletic Brewing Company. (Athletic Brewing Company)
Currently, the category is growing faster than any other segment of beer, he said, noting that “a record number of Americans, 45%, now believe that drinking one to two drinks a day is unhealthy.” I believe that,” he added.
He cited data from global marketing research firm NIQ showing off-premise sales of non-alcoholic beer increased from $135.2 million in 2018 to $487.3 million in 2023.
Sales so far this year have already exceeded $541 million.
