Hillsboro County, Florida — Non-alcoholic beverage sales are on the rise, driving many to quit traditional cocktails and beers, creating a new drive for both making and buying non-alcoholic beverages.
Sales of non-alcoholic beverages will increase by 25% in 2022, according to NWSR Drinks Market Analysis. These numbers are expected to continue to grow in the coming years.
NWSR’s Brandy Rand said, “We’re moving towards a more lifestyle movement where it’s become socially acceptable for people to choose to drink in some cases and choose not to drink in other cases. .
As bars and restaurants in the Tampa Bay area add mocktails and non-alcoholic beers to their menus, more people are opting out of typical alcoholic beverages.
“It makes me feel included and also takes the pain out of people asking, ‘Oh, why don’t you drink?'” said Ariah Updike. It goes on to say that the option to order zero-proof drinks helps take the pressure off during a night out with friends.
Tampa’s first humble bar opened as the mocktail movement took off.
“It’s really about cultural change, right? People are really trying to get healthy, me and my husband included,” said Debra Reich.
She opened Lucid Zero Proof in the Tampa Bay Area. She told me she wanted to give people a chance to socialize without pressure to drink alcohol.
With increasing demand, many major beer brands are joining the production of non-alcoholic beer.
“Between 2018 and 2021, we grew 13,000%,” said John Walker. Walker is the co-founder of Athletic He Brewing, his brand of non-alcoholic craft beer.
He said sales have skyrocketed and are attracting more interest from people wanting to reduce their alcohol intake.
“What we see in our largest consumer group is people who are switching between high-strength alcohol and no or low alcohol on the same occasion to keep their alcohol content down,” Brand said.
The IWSR said that millennials and Generation Z of legal drinking age are the demographics driving this trend.
Below are some restaurants in the Bay Area that serve zero-proof drinks.
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