No/low alcohol has a consumer misidentification problem

The no/low alcohol category has been the drinks industry’s most discussed strategic priority for the better part of a decade. The investment case has been built on a specific narrative: Gen Z is not drinking, the moderation generation is here, and the brands that build credible no/low propositions now will capture the consumers other brands are losing. IWSR’s President and Managing Director Marten Lodewijks stated this week, on the release of the latest Bevtrac survey data, that this narrative is “now conclusively debunked.”

The category itself is real and growing. The consumers buying it are not the ones the industry assumed. And the brands that have built the no/low category’s most successful positions did not build them around Gen Z moderation – they built them around occasions, quality, and the experience of drinking without alcohol, for consumers of all ages. The brands that built around the Gen Z narrative have a different challenge ahead of them than the ones that did not.

What this week’s IWSR data actually confirms