Here’s why alcohol-free drinks are gaining in popularity
Those looking to cut back or give up alcohol seem to have more options at their fingertips as the non-alcoholic drink market gains popularity.
Staff at McCabe’s Irish Pub in Waterloo have noticed more people are becoming “sober curious” – a term used to describe a person who chooses to question or change their drinking habits.
“It's very popular now, not drinking alcohol,” said Isabella Pretelt, a server at McCabe's. “We also have non-alcoholic beer, and we have mocktails like Caesars or Shirley Temples. Or most of our alcoholic cocktails you can do without alcohol as well.”
Global Market Insights estimates the non-alcoholic beer market was worth more than US$22 billion in 2022.
The market research and consulting firm expects the market to be worth almost double that in a decade.
Some pub goers in the region said they find themselves ordering more mocktails over cocktails than before.
“You want to go out, you want to enjoy yourself. You don't want to have the after effects of having alcohol,” one person told CTV News.
“Especially on a Tuesday night when you go to a pub, and you're like ‘I have an 8:30 class the next morning. I don't feel like drinking at all, maybe I'll just have a mocktail,’" said a student.
It’s just about dodging hangovers that’s helping with the popularity of non-alcoholic beverages – a lack of liquor doesn’t mean you have to feel left out.
“It makes you feel like you still belong in the same crowd,” said one woman.
While some might be jumping on the sober band-wagon with trends like “Dry January” – others may try reaching for alcohol-free drinks year round.
“Even if all your friends are drinking and you don't want to drink, it looks like an alcoholic drink, and you fit in,” said Pretelt.
According to a 2021 survey by Statistics Canada, one in five Canadians said they've been drinking less than they did pre-pandemic.
Joel Gregoire, associate director for food and drink at market research company Mintel, said younger generations appear to be more prone to opt for non-alcoholic drinks – but many of those consumers weren’t avoiding alcohol entirely but cutting down.
But buyer beware, some non-alcoholic drinks could cost close to or just as much as their alcoholic counterparts as they be just as complicated to make.
"I would even argue that you might have to nail the flavour more, because the person drinking it is not going to get buzzed," Gregoire said.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau calls violence in Montreal 'appalling' as NATO protest continues
Anti-NATO protesters gathered again in Montreal on Saturday to demand Canada withdraw from the alliance, a day after a demonstration organized by different groups resulted in arrests, burned cars and shattered windows.
7 suspects, including 13-year-old, charged following 'violent' home invasion north of Toronto
Seven teenage suspects, including a 13-year-old, have been arrested following a targeted and “violent” home invasion in Vaughan on Friday, police say.
These vascular risks are strongly associated with severe stroke, researchers say
Many risk factors can lead to a stroke, but the magnitude of risk from some of these conditions or behaviours may have a stronger association with severe stroke compared with mild stroke, according to a new study.
Widow of Chinese businessman who was executed for murder can sell her Vancouver house, court rules
A murder in China and a civil lawsuit in B.C. have been preventing the sale of multiple Vancouver homes, but one of them could soon hit the market after a court ruling.
Cher 'shocked' to discover her legal name when she applied to change it
Cher recalls a curious interlude from her rich and many-chaptered history in her new book 'Cher: The Memoir, Part One.'
Black bear killed in self-defence after attack on dog-walker in Maple Ridge, B.C.
A black bear has died following a brawl with a man on a trail in Maple Ridge, B.C.
Retiring? Here's how to switch from saving for your golden years to spending
The last paycheque from a decades-long career arrives next Friday and the nest egg you built during those working years will now turn into a main source of income. It can be a jarring switch from saving for retirement to spending in retirement.
Canadian neurosurgeons seek six patients for Musk's Neuralink brain study
Canadian neurosurgeons in partnership with Elon Musk's Neuralink have regulatory approval to recruit six patients with paralysis willing to have a thousand electrode contacts in their brains.
Police thought this gnome looked out of place. Then they tested it for drugs
During a recent narcotics investigation, Dutch police said they found a garden gnome made of approximately two kilograms of MDMA.