​Statistics show that the amount of young people between 16 -25 who drink alcohol is falling year on year. Factors including health awareness, frugality and changes in drink-driving laws are causing a social change and we are seeing sobriety become more mainstream and even ‘trendy’ with the opening of pop-up ‘alcohol-free pubs’.

Sales of non-alcoholic drinks are rising 25% year-on-year. Consumers are no longer satisfied with an orange and lemonade when they aren’t drinking alcohol, instead searching for something more adult and sophisticated. This new consumer-demand is driving the emergence of a new division within the soft drinks industry.

Seedlip, claiming to be the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit manufacturer. Diageo have recently acquired a majority share in the company and they have a range of non-alcoholic spirits that can be likened more to a gin that any other alcohol and are regularly paired with a variety of tonic waters. Drinking Seedlip is not the inexpensive option though, with a 70cl bottle retailing for £26.00; more expensive than many gins currently on the market, their popularity shows that this social shift is based on far more than just consumers trying to save a few pounds.

Despite the current buzz surrounding Seedlip within the non-alcoholic drinks market, there are many other alternatives out there.

Campari launched Crodino in the UK only two years ago as demand began to rise for this type of drink, but it has been the most-consumed drink of its kind in Italy since first being produced there 55 years ago.

Pernod Ricard, have recently launched ‘Ceder’s’, a non-alcoholic gin brand offering a 0% alcohol product that they say does not compromise on taste and just last month they launched, ‘Celtic Soul’, a non-alcoholic blend of carefully distilled dark spirits.

Other non-alcoholic spirits to look out for are, Everleaf, Aecorn Bitter and Palermo Amarino and of course we are seeing more and more breweries begin to offer a low or no-alcohol option.

We predict that this new division within the drinks industry will continue to grow year-on-year and welcome a whole host of new products to the market. We are working with a number of talented candidates, experienced within the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks sectors and continue to place them in exciting new opportunities. If you are interested in exploring roles within this market or you are a drinks business experiencing growth, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us and see how we can help!