Dry January is now an established phenomenon
(Picture: PA Wire)Britons are set to drink nearly 8 million pints of low-and no-alcohol beer this month as Dry January resolutions come in amid a boom in the low-bev sector, according to a major trade body.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said it expects 7.8 million pints of low-proof brews to be sold in the UK by January 31 - mostly via supermarkets.
The estimation comes after a couple of years in which assorted drinks giants created new and improved alcohol-free beers.
Diageo launched its Guinness 0.0, Heineken and Carlsberg have both created alcohol-free versions of their flagship beer labels.
Belgian brewing giant AB InBev also recently pledged that low and no-alcohol products will make up 20% of its drinks portfolio by 2025.
Brands are targeting a burgeoning market and younger consumers.
Market research firm Kantar recently valued the UK’s low and no alcohol market at £143 million, with sales growing by £17.2 million in the year to January 2021. Under-25s are among the most likely to purchase alcohol-free drinks, according to experts.
After a Christmas period during which pubs lost custom due to fears over the Omicron variant and Plan B restrictions, the BBPA urged Britons to support their local and head to the pub for an alcohol-free pint this month.
Chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “The range and quality of non-alcoholic beers in the UK has never been better. Some are now available on tap in pubs.
“It has been a torrid Christmas for pubs, which now need the support of the communities they serve in the difficult months ahead."
