Guests Paolo Dalla Mora, co-founder of Contrattino – Aperitivo Italiano and former founder of ENGINE Gin, and Enrica Gentile, CEO of Areté – The AgriFood Intelligence Company.
Areté presents the data of a LNA market that in the EU has gone from around 7.5 billion euros in 2021, to just under 9 billion in 2023, marking a growth of 17.3% in two years, with beer still representing 86% of the market in value, against around 93% in 2021. Some update data therefore compared to the picture that Areté itself had provided a couple of years ago in the first comprehensive study conducted for the DG Agri of the EU Commission on the “Low No Alcohol Beverages” market, with a focus on Europe and on some important third countries including the USA, Brazil, Australia. The prospective figures of the CAGR to 2028 still highlight important spaces for growth, which in Europe are concentrated above all on LNA spirits (20.6% 2024-2028). Significant growth is also expected outside the EU, with the US projecting a CAGR of 10.9% for beers, 18.9% for spirits and 8.1% for wines. Expectations are also high on the Brazilian market, with a CAGR of 24% for beers and 13.5% for wines.
In the background, a still uncertain regulatory landscape, with classification systems for “low” and “no” alcohol drinks still largely different from one country to another even within the EU itself, where in fact there is no reference legislation for beers, although the market for LNA beers is far from being in its infancy, and for wines and spirits.
Driving the market, of course, are health trends, especially among millennials and Generation X, but also increasingly stringent regulations regarding alcohol and driving, medical problems and, in some countries in particular, religious factors. “Interesting data shows how Low-No products are presented, especially for young people, not only as alternatives to similar alcoholic products, but also – especially for no-alcohol – as alternatives to classic soft drinks – explains Enrica Gentile, CEO of Areté – with the consequent possibility that a portion of the market is not actually “taken away” from beer, wine and “classic” spirits, but rather from the consolidated non-alcoholic market. A trend still held back by qualitative aspects, especially for some products, but we do not believe it will stop here.”
