The world of alcohol-free drinks has been growing steadily in recent years. Whether it's with big brands like Pernod Ricard, Kronenbourg or small producers.
The number of points of sale is also increasing, with the opening of several cellars dedicated to soft drinks in recent years. For example, Le Paon qui boit, a Parisian wine cellar, now has more than 450 references in its shop! An offer that is exploding and constantly diversifying. In fact, according to a study conducted by the IWSR, the global market grew by 9% in 2022.
The most dynamic categories would then be non-alcoholic spirits and non-alcoholic beers, driven by the launch of the Tourtel Twist brand.
For alcohol-free wines, "the evolution is constant and sales have exploded over the year 2022" as Mathilde Boulachin, director of the Chavin house and Camille Huarté-lesaint, director of the Cordier brand, explain in the newspaper L'Express. These wines are not just grape juices. These wines are dealcoholized thanks to vacuum evaporation technology allowing the wines to keep their expression and organoleptic qualities.
As quoted by Hortense Brière, director of business development at B&S Tech in the L'Express article "Non-alcoholic beverages : an investigation into an 'exponential' business": "Reverse osmosis is also used to dealcoholize wine or other alcoholic beverages through membrane filtration. These technologies are expensive but necessary to meet growing consumer demand. On the market trend, she completes by explaining: "The unblocking is happening at all levels: the consumer is demanding quality products, the giants of the sector and small producers have the technologies to respond to it, alcohol-free is becoming part of the customs. We are at the very beginning of a market that can only develop,"
These products were becoming more and more qualitative and were found on the tables of great Parisian restaurants and other establishments renowned for their range of premium drinks.
In France, non-drinkers and "flexi-drinkers" (moderation of their alcohol consumption) are more and more numerous and less and less stigmatized. Indeed, according to INSEE, alcohol consumption in France per capita has fallen by more than 50% since 1960 to today. Consumption habits such as a glass of wine at lunch tend to be lost, giving way to a new market, that of no/low alcohol.