2024-01-04 17:30:43
Published on Jan 4, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
January 1, 2024, a new year begins and, following the excesses of the holidays, it’s time for some to make new resolutions. Among them, “dry January”, a challenge popularized on social networks with the objective of not drinking a single drop of alcohol during the entire month of January.
To avoid giving up your social life, this resolution is made easier today by the rise of 0% alcohol drinks. In Switzerland, sales of these beverages increased significantly last year, according to the Swiss daily ” The weather “.
Beers, white wine, red wine and even spritz, the range of ethanol-free drinks has been expanding for several years. These substitutes are attracting more and more people, aware of the risks of excessive alcohol consumption. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 3 million people die each year worldwide from overconsumption.
Downward trend
Among OECD countries, the Swiss are above average in terms of consumption, with around 2.4 bottles of wine or 4.4 liters of beer per week per person aged 15 and over. But this overconsumption is tending to reduce: the average annual sale of pure alcohol, all drinks combined, increased from 10.6 liters to 8.5 liters per inhabitant between 2001 and 2021, according to figures from the Federal Office of public health.
This decline is offset by the increase in the production of non-alcoholic drinks, notably beer. It increased on the other side of the Alps “by 5.3% during the 2022-2023 brewing year”, underlines “Le Temps”. Demand has never been higher, forcing supermarkets to adapt. From now on, in Aldi stores in Switzerland, one beer in twenty sold is alcohol-free.
0% beer
According to Yan Amstein, director of the Amstein group, a specialist in beer distribution, the success of alcohol-free beer can be explained by its taste, because “removing the alcohol softens the drink”. A technique which appeals to non-fans of hoppy flavors, but which works less for alcohol-free wines, he analyzes.
In France, where the consumption of alcoholic beverages is higher than that of Switzerland (12.3 liters per inhabitant per year), major wine regions, such as Saint-Emilion, have chosen to broaden their offering by also offering, alcohol-free wines. Moderato, Gueule de Joie or even Le Petit Béret, many young startups have even decided to devote themselves solely to non-alcoholic fermented wine, a trend which might gain in popularity.
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