Drinks giants’ moves in no-and-low alcohol

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While still a small part of the global alcoholic drinks industry, the market for non-alcoholic alternatives continues to grow – and continues to attract investment from the industry’s major players.

Recent market analysis from GlobalData, Just Drinks’ parent, suggests the value of the combined, global, non-alcoholic beer and cider market will reach $11.6bn by 2027, growing roughly 16% on what is forecast for 2024.

Non-alcoholic spirits is a smaller market but is forecast by GlobalData to see greater growth, being forecast to increase 36.7% in value between 2024 and 2028, to $478.9m.

Big players in alcohol have taken note, and growing numbers have now made significant moves in the space: be it through M&A, developing brand extensions, launching standalone non-alcoholic products, or making investments in specialist facilities and technologies.

When it comes to commitments to growing the no-and-low category within their own portfolios, not all brewing and distilling heavyweights have established clear targets around sales or volumes. While some are clear on their expectations for the segment, others prefer to remain cautious, committing to investing in brands and technology but not with any specific goals in mind.

Here, Just Drinks presents a rolling guide of how some of the industry's heavyweights are looking to tap into the growing interest in no-and-low.

Asahi Group Holdings

Non-alcoholic drinks play a major role in Asahi’s corporate vision.

As part of its Legacy 2030 strategy, the company is looking to have 20% of its group-wide portfolio made up by non-alcoholic and low-alcohol products in six years’ time. Meanwhile, the group’s domestic alcohol business Asahi Breweries is aiming to have 20% of its sales volumes made up by drinks with 3.5% abv or less by next year.

At the end of the first half of 2024, low- and no-alcohol products made up 12.1% of total sales, Asahi CEO Atsushi Katsuki told Just Drinks in a recent interview.

Asahi’s moves in M&A around in no-and-low alcohol have been few and far between but Katsuki said the group “would like to” boost its investment in what he calls the "beer-adjacent" category, which includes non-alcoholic beer and RTDs but also soft drinks targeted at the adult market.

One of the group’s most recent M&A ventures in the area was in January 2024, when its US-based venture capital arm Asahi Group Beverages and Innovation contributed to a Series A funding round for non-alcoholic drinks retailer The Zero Proof.

A bottle of Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0.
A bottle of Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0. Credit: Asahi Group Holdings

The Peroni brewer did not confirm the amount it had invested at the time but The Zero Proof noted in a separate statement that the company had “led” the round.