Brazil: Non-alcoholic beer outperforms other categories in 2023

Non-alcoholic beer in Brazil outperformed other strength beers in 2023 as consumers bought into a rising health and wellness trend.

A new report from GlobalData has shown that non-alcoholic beer registered annual volume growth of 71.8% last year. Between 2022 and 2023, 0.0 abv beer’s volumes grew by 694,900 hectolitres.

The data report said: “The health and wellness trend has been firmly gaining ground among Brazilian consumers as they try to adopt healthier lifestyle choices. This has led to an increase in demand for beers with zero and low alcohol content.”

It also noted that very low-alcohol beer (between 0.0% and 0.5% abv) saw its consumption grow 7.7% in 2023.

In the wider beer category, which was comfortably the largest alcoholic beverage category in Brazil, volume sales grew 1.4% in 2023, whereas cider volume increased annually by 8%, fuelled by increased mobility and tourism, according to the report.

GlobalData said volume sales in the Brazilian beer and cider sector will expand at a CAGR of 2.5% between 2024 and 2029.

“During 2024–29, volume and value sales of the sector will rise steadily due to an improvement in the economic conditions and tourism. However, value growth will be higher due to price increases,” it added.

“Within the sector, no-/low-alcohol products continued to record growth, with frequent launches of new offerings. The increasing focus on consumer health also fuelled the demand for these products throughout 2023. The launch of unique and innovative flavours fuelled industry growth by attracting novelty seekers.”

Lager was the most consumed Brazilian beer type in 2023, with a 97.9% volume share. Skol, owned by AB InBev, and local brand Brahma accounted for 22.2% and 15.6% of overall volume sales, respectively, in 2023.

Branded product sales recorded an increase of 1.4%, whereas private label sales only grew by 0.7%, indicating a consumer preference for branded beers.

The report also showed that “premium” beer saw the strongest growth in 2023, compared to the “discount”, “mainstream” and “superpremium” price segments.

“Premium” beer volume sales grew 9.5% to 45.7m hectolitres while value sales jumped 13% to 81.7m reais ($14.9m).

GlobalData said that “considerable growth in volume sales of Heineken and Amstel, the two leading premium brands, fuelled the segment’s expansion”.

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