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A new consumer trend that is fueling many conversations as well as press articles, will non-alcoholic drinks really be the aperitifs of tomorrow? Because the proportion of French people who do not consume alcohol remains stable as do those who are fans of these new liquids, while young people are even fewer in number choosing them.
A gin that reproduces the taste of its alcoholic alter ego thanks to a multitude of herbs, a de-alcoholized blonde beer to toast without feeling guilty… Designated as a new consumption trend, and rightly so since France has the largest number new consumers of non-alcoholic drinks with an increase of 25% in 2022, non-alcoholic drinks and their different options have multiplied in recent years. Much has been said about the no/low trend (no in English meaning without alcohol and low for drinks reduced in alcohol), especially given the rise of “dry January”, this movement at the start of the year consisting of take a break from alcohol consumption.
If some have seen this fashion as a new way of approaching aperitif time, we should not make too hasty conclusions and imagine this section of drinks as the aperitifs of tomorrow. According to the latest Sowine/Dynata barometer which has just been published, not only does the proportion of consumers who do not drink alcohol remain stable at 15%, but what is more, the proportion of fans of the no/low category is stagnating at 28%, down one point compared to last year. Yet sensitive to Operation Dry January, the number of young people aged 18-35 who consume non-alcoholic drinks is even down by four points to represent 40%. Women remain the leading consumers ahead of men (31% versus 24%).
However, the motivations for choosing this type of drink remain the same: consumers want to avoid ingesting alcohol (52%) and they want to preserve their health (41%). Unsurprisingly, the pioneer of the genre, namely beer, continues to be the preferred drink since 65% of consumers choose it. Cocktails constitute the real second alternative (48%) because non-alcoholic spirits only recruit 17% of drinkers. As for wine, which still needs to prove itself to serve truly high-quality alcohol-free skittles, the Bacchus drink has immense room to convince: only 10% of French people concerned consume it.
Note that this study indicates wine as the preferred alcoholic drink of the French, successively ahead of beer and champagne. 60% of French people consume it, i.e. five points more compared to 2023.
This study was carried out in December 2023 on a sample of 1,058 French people living in mainland France aged between 18 and 65 years old.