Europe: 1 in 15 beers served in Europe is now alcohol-free

Europe boasts the largest non-alcoholic beer industry in the world. Can the region provide a roadmap for future alcohol-free beer growth globally?

Europe starts off with a strong beer heritage, particularly in countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, BeverageDaily.com reported on April 15.

That means there is a continent full of brewing experts and beer lovers. And alcohol-free brews have slowly and surely been creeping onto the scene for far longer than most people realize.

Today, it represents a booming market with plenty of potential for further growth: 2.2 billion litres of non-alcoholic beer already brewed every year.

And 1 in 15 beers served on the continent is now alcohol-free.

“Non-alcoholic beer was already part of brewers’ portfolios 30 years ago, it’s not new,” explained Julie Leferman, secretary of the Brewers of Europe, the industry association that represents the interests of some 10,000 brewers across the continent.

“But what’s changed is the quality of the product, because of the innovation in technology and production for this type of beer, and the investment in marketing and advertising to really make non-alcoholic beer a legitimate choice.

“It’s no longer a negative option, but a positive one that consumers can choose to have. And the availability of the product has also increased.”

In Spain, an incredible one in seven beers is now non-alcoholic. That makes it a great case study for understanding how to grow the alcohol-free category

There are several reasons for the popularity of alcohol-free beer, explains Eduardo Olmedo Samperio of Spanish association Cerveceros de España.

The first is that consumers in Spain place far less importance on alcohol than others do. An alcoholic drink is there as a point of connection or something to enjoy over food, rather than simply being there for its alcohol content.

“When we are drinking beer, we’re not looking for alcohol. So when there isn’t alcohol, it isn’t a huge problem. Secondly, we’re having beer with tapas, with something to eat,” he explained.

And Spain has built up alcohol-free into the industry over time: with investment and support for the category.

“Next year will be 50 years since the launch of the first non-alcoholic beer [in Spain] in 1966. It’s been there for quite some time, and we’ve been pushing it and giving it support.”

There are several lessons that can be learned from the Spanish market, says Heineken’s global innovation director, Jules Macken.

While Heineken is a pioneer in 0.0 (launching its 0.0 in 2017, which is now in 117 markets worldwide), many of these lessons in fact come from the way beer is approached as a category, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

“A lot of the beer narrative in Spain has been about beer being a natural brewed product,” she said. “There’s a very positive conversation around beer in Spain that non-alcoholic has stepped into to be the next part of that chapter.

“It’s about coming together, the connection, the most natural thing in the world is for people to connect over a beer. And whether that’s a beer with alcohol, without alcohol… we should champion that moment together.”

But some elements of alcohol-free beer success have been more deliberate.

Putting alcohol-free beer on draught has been another key driver for Heineken both in Spain and across Europe (the brand now has more than 5,000 locations serving Heineken 0.0 on tape worldwide).

“The other thing I think [Spain] has done incredibly well – and I’m immensely proud of the work our Spanish team is doing on this - is looking to say how can we normalize consumption of non-alcoholic beer,” said Macken.

“For us, draught beer and non-alcoholic beer on draught is an incredible driver of that. To have a drink in the same format, same serve as everyone else, really normalizes it and makes it an acceptable choice. Spain has done really well at putting non-alcoholic on draught on the table as a step change.”

Europe is leading the way in alcohol-free. Will following Europe’s road-map work elsewhere?

Yes... and no, says Macken.

Some learnings, such as draught, can be taken around the world. Others require understanding cultural differences and approaches to alcohol-free beer.

“Europe is certainly the most developed of the regions when comes to non-alcoholic, roughly 4% of total beer here is non-alcoholic compared to 1% in other regions,” she said.

“But we are seeing significant growth in the US, Brazil, and some of the legislative changes that have been introduced in Vietnam and China are really driving people towards moderate consumption.”

The US market is growing fast: but the reasons people turn to alcohol-free are not the same as in Europe.

“We see the advancement of health and wellness trends are bringing us towards lower carb, lower calorie solutions. In Europe it’s much more about the quality, naturalness, pure enjoyment of the moment together.

“The moderation trends exist everywhere, their development and maturity are slightly different, and the fundamental drivers we see manifest slightly differently. But across the world we’re seeing the same increase in 0.0: which is a really positive thing.”

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