Wine in Moderation Archives

IWSR Research: Who is winning in the moderation trend?

According to IWSR research conducted in late 2023 across the top 10 no/low markets – Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US – 44% of no/low consumers said they had switched to a no-alcohol drink from another non-alcoholic drink, such as soft drinks, water, tea or coffee. This compares to 29% who replaced a full-strength alcohol product – although this was significantly up on the 2022 figure.

“No-alcohol drinkers generally come from other non-alcoholic beverages, but also now increasingly from full-strength categories,” says Susie Goldspink, Head of No- and Low-Alcohol Insights, IWSR. “There is also an increase in the proportion of no-alcohol consumers planning to increase their no-alcohol consumption.

“Increasingly, alcohol companies see no-alcohol especially as an opportunity for growth. Moderation is an established trend, and no-alcohol products which keep customers within a category – for example, switching beer for no-alcohol beer – or within a brand portfolio – say, switching Heineken for Heineken 0.0 – offer an option to alcohol businesses to hold on to revenue and continue to build brand equity.”

As a result, a number of brand owners across the beverage alcohol marketplace have invested heavily behind zero-alcohol versions of leading brands, or have either acquired or developed ‘pure-play’ no-alcohol brands, to target these opportunities. IWSR’s Innovation Tracker shows that the number of no-alcohol innovations coming to market globally has more than tripled since 2019, with numbers peaking in 2020 for launches of brand extensions as well as new-to-world products.
Consumer attitudes, however, are somewhat different within low-alcohol: here, 40% of those surveyed said they had replaced a full-strength alternative with a low-alcohol product, with 33% switching from another non-alcoholic drink.

“Full-strength alcohol categories continue to be replaced the most by low-alcohol beverages – particularly replacing beer/cider, for example in Spain and Brazil,” explains Goldspink.

“Meanwhile, spirits are being replaced more in markets such as the US and South Africa, where spirits are the most purchased full-strength category.”

IWSR consumer research also suggests that people who don’t currently participate in the no-/low-alcohol category could also be potential targets for brand owners in the future.

“More than half of non-consumers of no/low are either moderating their alcohol intake (26%) or don’t drink alcohol at all (28%) – offering a further untapped opportunity for producers of no- and low-alcohol brands,” explains Goldspink.

“There is also evidence from our recent consumer research that in many markets, no-alcohol products recruit consumers who aren’t drinking in a certain occasion or switching between both. These might be ‘Substituters’ (those who switch between alcohol and no-alcohol in different occasions) or ‘Blenders’ (mixing alcohol and no-alcohol in the same occasion).

“In both cases, these occasions offer an incremental opportunity for a brand owner to sell a product to a consumer who otherwise would not have been buying one of their products.”

Meanwhile, the emergent segment of functional beverages – ‘alcohol adjacents’ with active ingredients such as CBD, adaptogens or nootropics that claim to offer health benefits, stress reduction, mood alteration and pleasure – is beginning to attract younger consumers (Gen Z, Millennials) in particular.

According to IWSR data, the purchase of cognitive enhancers has increased over the past year, driven by growth in Australia and the US – where up to 29% of Millennials have made purchases in the category.

“CBD and other nootropic/adaptogenic products could provide a future challenge to alcohol consumption, particularly with younger legal drinking age consumers who are more likely to participate in this category,” says Goldspink.

“This generation participates in a broader repertoire of beverages in this space, as well as generally still consuming alcohol. As such, for brand owners looking to shape their future category, it’s really all about offering consumer choice to suit different occasions.”

The growth of the overall no/low-alcohol category gives brands the opportunity to cater to a much wider group of consumers. In many ways, no/low can be thought of as a solution to a gap in the market, rather than as a threat to the incumbents.

Source:IWSR

Australian government invests $3 million to improve no/low wines

The Australian federal government has awarded a grant of almost A$3m (£1.6m) designed to boost quality and innovation within the burgeoning low-alcohol and alcohol-free wine market.

This grant from the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects funding scheme will be used to drive further innovation and improve standards within the no/low category. The project is called ‘Advancement of Australian Lifestyle Wines’.

Australian Vintage, whose portfolio includes McGuigan and Tempus Two, will serve as the project lead for the research. The chief winemaker Jamie Saint said: ‘The grant allows us to conduct research with a key objective of optimizing the flavor and mouthfeel of no and low products, as well as drilling down into consumer and market insights of the category.’

The company will team up with 10 industry partners to conduct the research: Treasury Wine Estates, whose brands include Penfolds and Wolf Blass, along with the University of Adelaide, the Australian Wine Research Institute, Flavourtech, DrinkWise, Tarac Technologies, S. Smith and Son, Danstar Ferment, Mauri Yeast and CHR Hansen.

‘The opportunity to work with a group of leading industry partners to take the growing no/low category to the next level is something we are enormously excited by, improving the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of the Australian wine industry,’ added Saint.

‘We want to position the Australian wine sector as the largest global producer of no/low wines.’

In 2022, the market value for no/low-alcohol drinks surpassed $11bn among 10 focus markets across the world, according to IWSR analyst data.

IWSR expects consumption to grow by 33% to $14.67bn by 2026, spearheaded by health-conscious adults in Germany, Spain, the USA, Japan and the UK.

67 Pall Mall to open wine club in Bordeaux

67 Pall Mall, a private members club for professionals and collectors has officially secured the rights to a building in central Bordeaux, with the aim of opening up in 2025. They signed a lease on a property in the Triangle d’Or, 21 Cours de l’Intendance.

Grant Ashton, Founder and CEO of 67 Pall Mall said, ‘Bordeaux is at the very heart of the world of wine and the new club provides an amazing location for members and visitors to enjoy a fantastic range of Bordeaux’s wines. The club will offer a breadth of unique local wines alongside well-known favourites for both members and non-members to enjoy.’

The club will offer the most extensive wine list in the region which will feature 5,000 by the bottle, of which 2,000 bottles will be selected from local chateaux, 1,000 from the rest of France, and 2,000 wines from the rest of the world. They will also have a selection of 500+ wines by-the-glass.

There will also be a public “Bar à Vin” on the main floor, and the first and second floors will be for members only, with access to a clubroom, bar and several private dining rooms. The fourth floor will offer a rooftop terrace with a sweeping view across the historic city.

Wine in Moderation is releasing a “Responsible Service Training Tool”

Wine in Moderation will be releasing a “responsible service training tool” in the next few months to educate wine professionals around the world.

This new educational tool is the result of two years of work, which aims at empowering wine professionals around the world with responsible and moderate consumption patterns.

“We believe that all representatives of the wine sector – in every region and at every step of the value chain – have a role to play in finding the best ways to communicate about the value of moderation and to contribute to the reduction of harm due to abusive and hazardous drinking” – said Sandro Sartor, President of Wine in Moderation. “The education and training of professionals is therefore key to empower them with the necessary knowledge and tools to talk about responsible consumption patterns and encourage moderate consumption habits “.

As the international program of the wine sector, Wine in Moderation has thus developed training that will be available in different formats (face-to-face and digital) and will be adapted to the cultural needs and national legislation of every country, ensuring the best possible implementation.

“Every module will aim to tackle a specific subject that is considered of crucial importance when it comes to the sustainability of the wine sector (i.e., wine/alcoholic beverages and health, legal framework, good practices, Responsible Communication, etc.)” says Nadia Frittella, Secretary General of the WiM Association. “Our goal is to give professionals all the tools they need to offer their customers a responsible wine experience and we are thrilled to say that the training was also very well received by important actors of the sector such as former WSET CEO Ian Harris.”

“I am delighted to endorse the excellent “Wine for Professionals: from responsible service to sustainable consumption” program produced by Wine in Moderation. With 45 years of experience in the industry and until recently CEO of WSET, I am convinced that this is a program that is long overdue and should form a key pillar in the strategy of any company or organization passionate about ensuring the sustainability of wine. With 20 years of experience at WSET, the biggest global provider of education and qualifications in the wine and spirits industries, I have been impressed with the academic rigor which has gone into the creation of this initiative, and I look forward to witnessing – and celebrating – the success of the program.” Ian Harris – former CEO of WSET

In addition to the launch of the Responsible Service Training, Wine in Moderation has signed a 3-year partnership with ProWein. Wine in Moderation, as the international program for the wine sector, and ProWein, as one of the leading trade fairs for wine and spirits, will work together to raise awareness about the importance of moderation. Both parties are committed to making this partnership a long-lasting one and hope to continue working together towards a sustainable future for the wine sector.

“We are delighted to be able to offer a global platform for Wine in Moderation with ProWein. This initiative is so infinitely important for consumers on the one hand and the entire wine and spirits industry on the other. We are fully behind Wine in Moderation and will do everything in our power to support the initiative,”. Peter Schmitz – Project Director ProWein.

A leading nutrition scientist discovers red wine is good for us, but variety is key

Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, in his recent study which involved participants in the UK, US and Belgium. He suggests that wine drinkers look at drinking a wider range of red grape varieties, including unpopular varieties. In doing this, he states will boost our immune system, fight diseases, healthier gut and improve mental health.

He told Wine Blast podcast: “My advice for wine-lovers is keep loving wine and still drink wine, primarily for the pleasure, but at the back of your mind think, could I be trying different bottles or varieties that might actually be healthier for me and that I might enjoy?”

Professor Spector also states: “diversity is also important – if you take the analogy from foods, having a range of different grape varieties in your diet means that you are going to be helping different gut microbes inside you and you will increase your gut health and diversity. So, don’t just stick with the same wine. Get out there. try the hundreds or thousands of different grape varieties that we generally don’t enjoy.”

“Let’s get those rare ones back on the map again, because each of those could be helping you nourish really healthy gut microbes inside you and improve your health.’ A study led by Professor Spector’s team in 2019 found those who drank red wine had a wider range of gut bacteria. this was not seen for white wine, which may be because red wine has the grape skins left in for most of the fermentation process, so has high levels of polyphenols – plant compounds which are good for the gut.

Professor Spector is not suggesting people have full power to over-indulge in red and states: “The trick is to get the dose right, as always. That’s something that we all struggle with and it’s very individual. That’s why this government approach, [where] most countries say there are a certain amount of units that most men and women should have, is problematic.”

“Your response to alcohol is highly personalised and of course some people can’t drink it at all. So, we think that alcohol on one hand in large amounts is harmful but in small amounts, if might be okay.”