Britain has a proud and longstanding association with beer, which has been produced on these isles for thousands of years before even the first Roman invasion. It has played an intrinsic role in our cultural and social identity and, alongside the evolution of the pub, has become an established part of British life and a corner stone of local communities.  

The majority of UK adults enjoy alcohol responsibly and trends in alcohol consumption, in the UK, but also globally, have been declining for many years. Consumers are increasingly seeking lower strength options as part of a steady move to moderation and which the British brewing industry has responded to with characteristic enthusiasm.   

Lead by beer, and whilst coming from a low base, the low and no alcohol drink category has experienced a surge in popularity over recent years driving improvements in the range and quality of products available to British consumers.    

The beer category has seen sustained, year-on-year growth of low and no alcohol options of 23%. By January 2024, 87% of pubs served at least one no or low alcohol beer and of these 8% serve a draught option in addition, compared to just 2% at the end 2019. More widely, according to ISWR, no and low alcohol now commands a volume share of nearly 3% of the UK’s total beverage alcohol market and continue to grow exponentially.   

From a public health perspective there is clear and robust evidence that low and no alcohol drinks are effective in supporting those seeking to moderate or reduce their alcohol consumption.  This, and the wider drivers of consumer behaviour in relation to the low and no alcohol drinks, has also been captured recently by KAM Media in their latest report. The report shows 1 in 3 adult pub/restaurant visits do not involve any alcohol consumption, 31% of customers have left a venue early and/or disappointed because of poor low & no options and 40% will research low & no options ahead of time if they're visiting a pub, bar or restaurant and not drinking alcohol.  

Whilst category growth to date has stimulated the development of many new exciting, authentic and attractive options on the market. UK drinks manufacturers are committed to growing the category further, to reach the levels of awareness and availability seen in more mature such as Spain and Germany and meet the needs of a growing number of consumers.  

As part of this we had been supportive of a consultation published by the UK Government in 2023 on changing the definitions currently used on the UK market for low and no alcohol drinks. The existing UK threshold for alcohol free (0.05% ABV) is the lowest in the world, whereas the vast majority of markets define alcohol free as 0.5% ABV.

Aligning our UK descriptors with those used in many other global markets will increase consumer awareness and understanding of the category and help to stimulate further innovation and investment in the category, provide fairness for UK brewers and result in even greater choice for the consumer.

A decision on whether to progress with these changes is now for a future Government and we would encourage this decision to be made as quickly as possible to support the opportunity presented by the category and particularly for those growing numbers of consumers looking for lower strength options as part of a balanced lifestyle and diet.  

Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association:  

“The low and no alcohol category is the fastest growing beer category and one that is appealing to a whole new cohort of pub goers which is great for the British pub sector as it seeks to appeal to adapt to changing consumer tastes and demands. We now look forward to working closely with the next government to on ways to align low alcohol descriptors to global market norms to maximise further innovation, growth and investment in the beer and pub sector.”