Is a non-alcoholic alternative drink revolution really on its way?
“There’s is a lot to risk to it, and I do believe I might be a year too early in opening, but it is going to increase."
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I must admit I was a sceptic at first. In fact, in some small part, I probably still am.
An alcohol-free bottle store with a bar?…. In Invercargill?…. Really?
Although Kelly Blomfield does a pretty good job of laying out a compelling case for her business’ future, while tending to some of that scepticism.
In November Blomfield opened, Altered, the first alcohol-free bottle store in the South Island. She’s just one of two in New Zealand operating an alcohol-free bottle store. The other is in Ponsonby, Auckland.
Blomfield turned a vacant former windscreen repair shop in Leven St, Invercargill into a bottle store where there’s not an alcoholic beverage in sight.
You can find a host of non-alcoholic alternative options - gin, vodka, wine, beer, cider.
If there’s an alcoholic version, there’s a good chance there will also be a non-alcoholic alternative created, Blomfield says.
Sales exceeded expectations in the first few weeks before quietening down a little, Blomfield says.
“In the first two weeks I purchased what I thought would last two months and smashed it out in six days, it was insane.
“It has been slower since, but Saturdays are big days. The support is still there, I’m happy for it to tick away.”
She believes opening such a business may be a year too early. Blomfield predicts a surge in alternative drink interest in 12 months or so.
The global non-alcoholic beverages market size was valued at US$833.1 billion in 2021 and market research company Grand View Research expected it to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% from 2022 to 2030.
Blomfield wants to be established and ready for when she believes interest will surge in New Zealand.
“There’s is a lot to risk to it, and I do believe I might be a year too early in opening, but it is going to increase.
“If overseas markets are anything to go by, we are about 24 months behind America, and they are probably 12 months behind the UK.
“In the UK I think it’s about 30 percent of sales are alcohol-free [alternatives].”
It’s not about looking down on people who chose to drink alcohol, enjoy it, and do so with no problems Blomfield says. It’s about providing alternatives for those people who don’t want to or cannot drink alcohol.
People have differing reasons for opting to go alcohol-free, she adds.
For Blomfield, she says she become an alcoholic at the start of lockdown and simply needed to stop.
Over about a two-and-half-year period she became sick of drinking the likes of water, orange juice or a Coke Zero while out socialising and in amongst drinkers.
“I found over time; I wasn’t attending social functions. I wasn’t really socialising with people around alcohol because I felt uncomfortable. There’s only so much water or Coke Zero you can have. It’s kind of weird but I felt like I didn’t fit in.”
It was while in Christchurch for a funeral that she discovered non-alcoholic “spirit” drinks made by Terps & Co.
“I was making my own cocktails and having a good time, and I felt like a grown-up for the first time in a long time.”
However, when she returned to Invercargill Blomfield says she struggled to find similar options, prompting the decision to open her own bottle store.
She has since discovered a community of people in Invercargill who were also on the hunt for alternative options to alcoholic drinks.
“I get the most amazing stories as to why they don’t drink. Teenagers will come in with their parents and they will be looking for something that makes them feel like they fit in without consuming alcohol.
“I also have a customer that is looking after an elderly alcoholic parent. A lot of people have reasons not to drink.”
Blomfield believes the traditional brewing companies, as well as bars for that matter, are starting to embrace alcohol-free options, as more people request them, rather than viewing it as a threat.
“Most big companies are looking at zero percent options and if they haven’t got them they are working towards getting one.
“There is a zero percent Guinness that my customers are screaming out for but it’s just not in New Zealand at the moment.”
Another growth area was around companies turning to non-alcoholic drinks for work functions, Blomfield says.
“There are lots of workplaces that don’t allow alcohol on site, but they still want to have drinks after work and keep people there for a bit to decompress.
“A lot of corporates, for gift boxing, are looking at non or low-alcohol options.”
Altered now includes a bar at its Leven St premises. The idea of a bar was born from people coming in and wanting to try a certain product before potentially purchasing a larger bottle of it.
“I’ve got a work-do coming up, this big group will be coming here and having non-alcohol cocktail tastings,” Blomfield says.
Convinced?
Time will tell if Blomfield’s expected wave of alternative non-alcoholic drink interest arrives at the levels predicted in New Zealand.
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