HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Non-alcoholic drink sales are on the rise, leading to a new push to both produce and buy non-alcoholic drinks as many opt out of the traditional cocktail or beer.
According to NWSR Drinks Market Analysis, non-alcoholic drink sales rose 25% in 2022. Those numbers are expected to continue to grow in the next few years.
“It’s moved into more of a lifestyle movement where it has become socially acceptable for people to really choose to drink on some occasions and not drink on some occasions," Brandy Rand with NWSR said.
More people are opting out of the typical alcoholic drinks as bars and restaurants across the Tampa Bay area add mocktails and non-alcoholic beers to their menus.
“It makes me feel included, and also kind of alleviates the pains of people asking, ‘Oh, why aren’t you drinking,’” Ariah Updike said. She has been sober for eight years and said the option to order a zero-proof drink helps take the pressure off during a night out with friends.
As the mocktail movement takes off, the first sober bar in Tampa opened its doors.
“It's really about a culture shift, you know? People really trying to get healthy, including myself and my husband,” Debra Reich said.
She just opened Lucid Zero Proof in the Tampa Bay area. She told me she wants to give people a place to socialize without the pressure to drink alcohol.
Many big beer brand names are joining in on producing non-alcoholic beers as the demand increases.
“Between the years of 2018 and 2021, we grew 13,000%,” John Walker said. Walker is the cofounder of Athletic Brewing, which is a non-alcoholic craft beer brand.
He said he’s seeing sales skyrocket and getting more interest from people who want to cut back on their alcohol intake.
“What we see in our largest consumer group is people who are switching between full-strength alcohol and no or low alcohol int the same occasion to moderate their ABV,” Brand said.
IWSR said that Millenials and Gen Z of legal drinking age are the demographics driving this trend.
Below are a few restaurants in the Bay area that serve zero-proof drinks:
- Meat Market in Hyde Park
- Willa's in Tampa
- Counter Culture
- Lilacat The Edition Hotel in Tampa
