The no-alcohol base is well-covered. Low-alcohol? Not so much – Comment

The January blues are finally well behind us, leaving well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions with it, as gym memberships begin to collect dust and healthy eating plans start to strain.

However, 2026 may mark the point at which ‘Dry January’ became less of a month-long abstinence and more the beginning of an annual focus on positive and intentional consumption (or not, as the case may well be) of beverage alcohol.

Indeed, while sales of non-alcoholic alternatives peak during January (and alcohol sales decline), NIQ’s data is beginning to show a less volatile pattern of sales and consumption in the category, with spikes becoming less pronounced and no- & low-alcohol brands becoming a viable option all year round.

As a result, we’ve seen a deluge of new product launches, acquisitions and a strengthened focus on the no-alcohol space since the start of the year, as brand owners bet big on an emerging category that may deflect from declines in traditional alcohol.

Indeed, AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris recently stated that non-alcoholic beer was an “opportunity to develop new beer consumption occasions”. Meanwhile, Suntory Holdings’ assertion last year that consumers’ shift away from alcohol was “likely permanent” – a view that has led the group to adjust its focus on the soft drink brands in its portfolio – reflected the mood music across beverage alcohol boardrooms.

This is not without justification. NIQ’s most recent global data has showcased that an eye-watering 63% of on-premise visitors were, to some extent, moderating their alcohol intake. However, delve into that statistic, and you’ll discover that well over two-thirds of those moderators are merely ‘mindful’ of what they’re drinking rather than drastically reducing.

For ‘moderating’, then, consider ‘monitoring’ and ‘measuring’ rather than ‘abstaining’.

Delve further still into the 63% who are moderating, and we find that Gen Z are only in-line with the global averages. Moderation, therefore, is less driven by the newest arrivals in the alcohol-drinking arena, but a common theme across age ranges.

Where Gen Z do differ, however, is in ‘how’ and ‘why’ they moderate. For this cohort, the main driver behind moderation is a desire “to improve health and wellbeing”. Meanwhile, the way in which they’re most likely to cut back on alcohol is by choosing to drink on select special occasions (a need state that has fuelled my favourite 2026 trend so far – ‘Wet February’; a celebration of occasions missed during Dry January).

With the moderation macrotrend here to stay – albeit with a focus on ‘less’ rather than ‘no’ alcohol – a clear open goal is being missed by brand owners time and time again. For every new non-alcoholic product launch, the competition in the category becomes more crowded. The low-alcohol space, however, remains relatively sparse.

Heck, even consumers have shown more innovation in this space than drinks companies, creating the zebra-striping drinking technique (one alcoholic drink followed by one tap water, which critically keeps money out of the till) and popularising the Guinness 60/40 serve (a mix of Guinness 0.0 and Guinness, with proportions of – you guessed it – 60% and 40%, respectively).

Without realising it, low-alcohol drinks have pretty much been the constant success story in an otherwise dreary couple of years. In an industry that loves to categorise all drinks, cohorts and trends, the low-alcohol category has quietly been flying under the radar.

This space has often emerged as a by-product of other trends, but, when looking at the recent success of the likes of the spritz, highballs, radlers and aperitifs, perhaps we’ve been missing an alcohol trend that has been staring us in the face.

The issue may be that brand owners have tried and failed in the low-alcohol space in the not-too-distant past. Around the turn of this decade, there was a rush to create lower-ABV whisk(e)y, rum and gin, with many ‘lite’ variants of well-known brands hitting the backbars for a very brief run of listings.

Put bluntly, these were typically weak in both nature and positioning, providing an apologetic half-alternative with very little in the way of taste credentials and even less in a compelling value proposition for consumers.

However, there are brands and categories out there that naturally play in this space and that will ride the waves of increased interest in low alcohol – just like aperitifs have done so splendidly over recent years.

Although challengers are less apparent than in the increasingly squeezed non-alc field, they are present. The two East-Asian big hitters of sake and soju, for example, can rely on heritage and authenticity alongside a universally appealing flavour profile and a versatility that is a bartenders’ dream.

Whichever categories come out on top, low alcohol is here to stay every bit as much as no alcohol is.