• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
RetailBeer

Big Beer’s Plan for Growth? Dropping the Alcohol

By
Beth Kowitt
Beth Kowitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Beth Kowitt
Beth Kowitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 4, 2017, 12:24 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

A growing push among consumers to live healthier lives has completely remade the food industry over the last half decade. We shop differently, we cook differently, and we eat differently today than we did five years ago.

But does it also mean we’ll drink differently?

That premise is explored in a recent note by Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling that looks at whether consumers’ shift toward health and wellness could shake up the alcohol sector through a rise in low- and no-alcohol beers.

Right now the “low and no” category, as the industry calls it, has a taste and image problem, and as a result makes up only about 2% of overall beer consumption. “Historically, in ‘serious’ drinking circles, alcohol-free beer was frowned upon,” Stirling writes. “Alcohol-free beer tasted bad, it didn’t make you look cool, and there was no buzz.”

Despite the low base, Stirling expects that the move toward health will make low and no one of the fastest-growing categories in beer. The compound annual growth rate for beer overall was less than 1% between 2010 and 2016, but low and no beers provided a glimmer of hope at 5.2%, according to insights firm GlobalData.

The rate of growth has made the category a “major priority” for big brewers, Stirling tells Fortune. ABInBev has said it wants 20% of its global beer volumes to come from no and low by 2025—it’s currently in the mid-single digits—and now has zero-alcohol varieties of its global brands. Earlier this year Heineken launched a no-alcohol variety of its flagship brand in Europe.

“The growth is driven by consumer trends rather than the classic push from big brewers,” says Jonnie Cahill, Heineken’s senior director of low and no alcohol, citing an increasing interest on wellness and balance. “These are solutions and products that consumers are asking for.”

The industry has little choice but to act. Stirling cites statistics from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which found that more than 40% of 18-25 year-olds reported they have not had an alcoholic beverage in the past month. And brewers risk finding themselves on the “receiving end of anti-drinking campaigns focused on fighting obesity,” much like the soda industry has, Stirling says.

The challenge for companies like Heineken is turning the perception of a zero-alcohol beer as a “distress purchase” on its head. “It was often coming from a position of sacrifice or a negative”— consumers felt forced to choose the category because they were the designated driver or watching their weight, Cahill says. Heineken is trying to change that by marketing its low and no beers in the same way they market their higher-ABV counterparts. “We don’t have an asterisk,” Cahill says. “If we make this about alcohol we’ve lost.”

Part of the issue used to be that low-alcohol products weren’t the highest quality, Cahill explains, but that’s changed as technology has improved. Brewers make low-alcohol beer by either filtering or evaporating the alcohol out, or by fermenting a low alcohol beer. Removing the alcohol content no longer means removing the flavor.

The U.S. market may prove to be the biggest geographic challenge. Low and no beers already have a foothold in China, where they are more affordable. And in Germany, beers mixed with beverages like lemonade (called a radler) are commonplace. “It’s never been a feature of the U.S. beer landscape,” Stirling says. “I think there’s just more consumer resistance to the idea of low-alcohol beer.”

The fundamental question is why would you pick low or no beer rather than a soda if you’re looking to avoid alcohol, or just drink water if you don’t want the calories. Stirling did his own unscientific sample and found that less than half of the testers said they would rather drink the highest-rated zero-alcohol beer than a soft drink.

“Alcohol content seems to still be the attractive offering for the beer, and not the flavor or other characteristics,” he writes. The better approach, he thinks, is positioning as a “good tasting” alternative to soda rather than a substitute for beer: “For when you are not drinking, AND for when you are drinking but not for the sole purpose of getting absolutely drunk.”

About the Author
By Beth Kowitt
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Retail

An open plain bagel with cream cheese smeared on a plate.
North AmericaImmigration
Seeds, schmear, sesame: How a bagel’s toasted crunch that became a reflection of America’s identity
By The Associated Press and Josh CornfieldJuly 21, 2026
10 hours ago
Lauren Sánchez Bezos put $34 million behind reinventing what clothes are made of—and stirred a debate about Amazon
Environmentphilanthropy
Lauren Sánchez Bezos put $34 million behind reinventing what clothes are made of—and stirred a debate about Amazon
By Sydney LakeJuly 21, 2026
12 hours ago
wilt
Arts & EntertainmentAuction
Gen Z entrepreneur found a Wilt Chamberlain Lakers warm-up for $3.07 outside Portland — it was a $90,000 genuine article
By Claire Rush and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
19 hours ago
‘We all failed’: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Hollywood, video games and the big question of IP
Arts & EntertainmentDisney
‘We all failed’: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Hollywood, video games and the big question of IP
By Joshua HongJuly 21, 2026
20 hours ago
A Jersey Mike's logo is displayed outside one of their stores in San Diego, California.
InvestingIPOs
Jersey Mike’s IPO valuation could reach eight times Sweetgreen’s market cap
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
AISports
LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
By Catherina GioinoJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
12 hours ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
15 hours ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
16 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.