Availability of non-alcohol beer supports consumer choice

New research from the University of Cambridge suggests increasing the proportion of non-alcohol drinks could reduce the amount of alcohol consumers purchase. The Cambridge researchers undertook their study in a simulated supermarket that presented shoppers with varying proportions of alcohol and non-alcohol drinks and asked them to select drinks to purchase for their next online shop. They found that shoppers who were exposed to more non-alcohol drinks selected and purchased fewer alcohol drinks. Those exposed to the highest proportion of nonalcohol drinks selected fewer alcohol units - 17.5 - compared to 29.4 units in those exposed to the lowest proportion of non-alcohol drinks, equivalent to a reduction of about 41%. While currently a smaller portion of the market, nonalcohol beer’s share of the market in Ireland has grown by 275%, from 0.4% in 2017 to 1.5% in 2021. Significant growth is expected in the period ahead.

Drinks Ireland Director, Cormac Healy said: “We welcome the research from Cambridge