Drinkaware backs low/no growth: Overview
- 91% of UK drinkers use at least one moderation strategy, creating opportunities for industry support.
- Around 8 million UK drinkers consume alcohol above low-risk guidelines.
- Low/no drinks are increasingly used for moderation, particularly among higher-risk drinkers.
- Taste and familiarity are key factors driving low/no trial and repeat purchases.
- Drinkaware wants brands to pair low/no innovation with practical moderation advice.
Drinkaware is calling on drinks manufacturers to do even more to support consumers looking to moderate their alcohol consumption.
Its research found that 91% of UK drinkers – around 42 million people – use at least one technique to manage their drinking. However, around eight million people (18% of drinkers) consumed alcohol at increasing-risk levels in the week before the survey, highlighting the continued need for support.
Low-and-no-alcohol products are already playing a role, with 46% of increasing-risk drinkers using them to moderate their consumption, up from 25% in 2018.
Drinkaware says manufacturers can help build on this through product innovation, consumer education and partnerships that make moderation easier across different drinking occasions.
Familiar flavours could drive low/no appeal
For manufacturers, the findings highlight the opportunity to develop even more low/no products that offer consumers a familiar drinking experience, with taste potentially playing a key role in encouraging trial and repeat purchase.
Drinkaware’s 2025 Monitor found that 29% of increasing-risk drinkers who had consumed a low/no product in the past year chose it because they enjoyed that it tasted like an alcoholic drink. This compared with 24% of all UK drinkers who had consumed a low/no product.
The wider category has also seen significant growth. UK retail value and volume sales of low/no drinks more than doubled between 2019 and 2024, with the market estimated to be worth £380m in 2024.
Growth has been particularly strong in beer. IWSR data showed UK no-alcohol beer volumes increased by 20% in 2024, compared with 8% growth for no-alcohol wine and 7% for no-alcohol spirits. Beer and cider account for around 70% of the UK’s no/low market by sales value.
Major brewers have helped establish the category through investment in alcohol-free extensions of established brands. Heineken, for example, achieved its goal of making alcohol-free alternatives available across its major beer brands in markets accounting for 90% of its global sales volume by the end of 2024. Its UK portfolio includes Heineken 0.0, Birra Moretti Zero, Inch’s 0.0 and Old Mout.
For manufacturers across other drinks categories, this highlights an opportunity to build on growing consumer interest through greater investment in product development, flavour and quality.
Manufacturers called to make moderation part of brand strategies
Drinkaware says manufacturers have an opportunity to support moderation beyond simply expanding their low- and no-alcohol ranges, by incorporating practical advice and education into their wider brand strategies.
It points to its partnership with Vinarchy’s Brancott Estate brand, which is launching a Know Your Pour initiative on November 4. The campaign will use in-store displays, QR codes linking to Drinkaware’s advice and complimentary wine measuring cups to help consumers better understand serving sizes and alcohol units.
Drinkaware says initiatives like this can help make moderation more accessible at the point where consumers make drinking decisions.
“One of the biggest opportunities for everyone is to embed information, advice and moderation messages in the exact places where drinking decisions are made,” it said.
For manufacturers, this presents an opportunity to work with organisations such as Drinkaware on initiatives that combine product choice with consumer education. The organisation says these partnerships will form part of its wider ambition to see two million fewer people drinking at risky levels by 2030.