The Forgotten Middle – A white paper on the challenges for lower ABV drinks

Supported by Cut Classics light spirits.

With all the talk of the growth in alcohol-free drinks, we often forget that underpinning this trend is a shift towards moderation, not sobriety. According to KAM Insights, 3 out of 4 UK adults are moderating their drinking in some way. This is not a sobriety story.

So people are thinking more about what they drink when they are not drinking alcohol. But what does this mean for their decision-making when they are drinking? How do they choose what to drink? Premiumisation and saving alcohol for special occasions are two ways that people are shifting their consumption. There is also anecdotal evidence that many consumers are ‘zebra striping’: alternating between full strength and alcohol-free drinks.

But if moderation is the goal, why are consumers not just lowering the alcohol content of all of their drinks? Instead of swapping between full strength and alcohol-free, why are they not just picking drinks which are
lower in strength?

In this report we highlight some of the obstacles and opportunities for the lower strength alcoholic drinks sector, and why this category of drinks is important.

Moderation does not have to be a binary choice between drinking and not drinking. So how can we create a more intentional style of drinking – paying attention to what we are drinking, and thinking about what we drink when we are drinking just as much as when we are not drinking?

Contents:

Still a fledgling market…

…masked by alcohol-free

What exactly is ‘low alcohol’?

Is there a right way to describe the category

Attitudes and habits

Issues this report raises

Authors:

Dr Jussi Tolvi

Laura Willoughby MBE