Alcohol alternatives your customers want

by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing Consultant

It may come as a surprise but according to research, Britons are drinking less alcohol than thirty years ago, declining on average around 10 per cent. The population is getting more health conscious, we’re becoming more aware of what we’re putting into our bodies as well as the effects of eating and drinking things that are bad for us.

With more people turning away from alcohol, alternative drinks are enjoying a lift in popularity. The market value of soft drinks is forecasted to be over £15 billion in the UK in 2020. But for those who are going tee-total, cola and fizzy orange can soon become boring options. A survey by Dalston’s showed that 80 per cent wanted better non-alcohol beverages. This article will explore alternative soft drinks that are exciting for menus and customers alike.

Healthy Slushes

Slushes have been subject to innovation, so they’re not just iced drinks for children anymore. If you have a slushie machine or are thinking of buying one to appeal to those who have ditched the booze for a healthier lifestyle, you could be in for a treat.

Instead of syrup, slushes can be made with iced fruit, which count towards one of your five a day. Appealing to the health-conscious consumers, these healthy slushes are essentially like a tasty frozen smoothie, having nutrition whilst having a fun, nostalgic element.

Incorporating fun mocktails into your summer menu can be a good idea — with slush machines you can jazz up your slushies by creating alcohol-free frozen cocktails — strawberry daiquiris, mojitos, margaritas. If they’re not drinking alcohol, at least let them pretend!

Craft-style Sodas

Following a heavy month of indulging in, well, everything, seasonal events such as Dry January are picking up in popularity. Teetotalism at this time is often driven by health and generally detoxing your body from all the sins of the festive period. With awareness of the high sugar content and questionable ingredient lists that traditional fizzy drinks have (the scary sounding and elusive Bisphenol A), here is potential to jump onto the craft-style soda trend.

People that usually take part in Dry January often miss the taste of alcohol. So, make it easier to go booze-free and offer something different with a wide range of choice and flavours to choose from. If the only alcohol-free offering you have is cola from the gun, you’re doing it wrong.

A huge selling point in craft beers and IPAs is the creative designs on the cans — label design has become more of an art-form, with the aluminium can being a conceptual piece of artwork. Artisan soft drinks that mimic this are likely to appeal to customers with positive associations with these small-batch production craft beers, using natural ingredients and unique flavours.

Tonic Water

Gin’s bitter partner has shot forward to being one of Britain’s fastest growing soft drinks. With the gin market facing a huge makeover over the past few years, tonic water has had to keep up pace to complement the everchanging botanic tastes, coming in a variety of flavours like lemongrass, elderflower, and grapefruit.

Due to the fame of gin and tonic, consumers are recognising tonic for the tasty drink that it can be when sipped on its own. Although this may not be the healthiest alternative to traditional soft drinks, it’s certainly a fizzy alternative that people want.

With alcohol-free consumers on the rise, offering a selection of unique adult soft drinks is becoming more of a requirement to appeal to the masses. It’s important not to alienate your customers by offering them fizzy drinks from the gun. Make their alcohol-free journey as easy and interesting as possible, and you’re likely to have people coming back for more!