Dry January: Alcohol-free beer innovation pivotal to health movement amid labeling challenges

15 Jan 2024 --- Low- and no-alcohol beers are crucial to Dry January success, according to Alcohol Change UK, the organization behind the alcohol-free movement. Reduced alcohol is now a year-round consideration for the increasingly health-conscious consumer, but market barriers — particularly around product labeling — persist. 

The global market is responding to the growing demand for hangover-free beers. Innova Market Insights data shows there was a 6% average annual growth in launches for low- and zero-alcohol beer (CAGR) from October 2018 to September 2023.

“Great-tasting adult drinks — without the alcohol — can be game-changing for the millions who have developed a stubborn drinking habit and want to get healthier. Alcohol Change UK’s recent survey showed that 83% of heavier drinkers who tried cutting back found that very low- or no-alcohol drinks were important in their journey to taking back control of their drinking,” Dr. Richard Piper, the charity’s CEO, tells Food Ingredients First.

The survey also found that 53% of these drinkers said that low- or no-alcohol beverages were “essential” or “very important” in that journey.

“So encouraging more alcohol substitution with non-alcoholic drinks is an important objective for the government, and expanding the take-up of these drinks by increasing their availability and price difference with alcohol-containing drinks could help improve the nation’s health,” says Piper.

Health demands inspire ingredient solutions
For Jan Visser, business manager for brewing at dsm-firmenich, health remains the top reason why consumers may choose a non-alcoholic brew in favor of traditional beer.

“Consumers often make the switch to low- or no-alcohol beer in an effort to support their immune system, weight and sleep,” he tells us.

The recently-merged health and nutrition leader introduced its latest solution for upgraded non-alcoholic beer production at the BrauBeviale 2023 trade show in Nuremberg, Germany. 

“Brewers TasteZym G sees us harness our decades of brewing enzyme expertise to address growing consumer demand for expanded choice of low- or no-alcohol beer, offering brands a simple, effective solution that puts taste and efficiency first,” explains Visser.

Non-alcoholic beers can often suffer from an overly sweet taste that fails to recreate the freshness of their traditionally brewed counterparts. Brewers TasteZyme G overcomes this issue by converting glucose (the driver for sweet flavors) into gluconic acid (which offers much-needed sourness) to create a more balanced and fully-rounded taste profile.

“This solution is easy to incorporate into a typical mashing process with no additional capital expenditure required. It also serves as a reliable oxygen scavenger, preventing oxidation for a more refreshing beer,” he continues.

“What’s more, as an enzymatic solution, Brewers TasteZyme G is classed as a natural processing aid, meaning producers can boost taste with a cleaner label and a lower carbon footprint.”

Barriers to healthier beverages
Despite the growing consumer demand and availability of increasingly sophisticated ingredients, the burgeoning alcohol-free market faces crucial challenges.

According to Piper at Alcohol Change UK, one of the key barriers to consumers embracing low- and no-alcohol drinks is consumer confusion around labeling, particularly the inconsistent use of the descriptors “zero,” “alcohol-free,” “non-alcoholic” and “dealcoholized.”Health-conscious consumers are driving alcohol-free demand but are sometimes left confused by inconsistent labeling.

“There is also a lack of consumer understanding about ‘very low’ ABV (alcohol by volume) drinks, such as the fact that a day in which someone only consumes drinks at or below 0.5% ABV counts as a ‘dry day,’ he says.

“UK producers of these drinks, including many smaller companies that have played an essential role in driving this category forward, are also looking for clarity and consistency, and equal treatment compared with those imported drinks that can be labeled ‘alcohol-free’ when UK-produced drinks cannot.”

For these reasons, Alcohol Change UK welcomed the UK government’s “updating labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives” consultation, which closed in September last year, and looks forward to the implementation of its results.

Meanwhile, a WHO briefing on health warning labels on alcoholic beverages recommends labeling alcoholic drinks to increase awareness and ensure consumers make more informed decisions.

Government intervention
Beyond improved labeling, Alcohol Change UK urges the government to implement other measures to reduce alcohol harm and save lives, including better-regulated marketing and action to stop the sale of super-cheap and super-strong supermarket alcohol.

“We also need to ensure that any downside risks of no- and low-alcohol drinks, which can act as “gateway” drinks for children, trigger some people in recovery to drink alcoholic versions, enable brands to bend marketing rules and normalize people drinking alcohol while driving – are properly researched, understood and avoided,” says Piper.

Although the low- and no-alcohol beer market is proliferating, Innova Market Insights data also shows alcoholic beer launches continue to increase — but less fast — with a 3% average annual growth between October 2018 to September 2023 (CAGR).

By Joshua Poole