In the 2021 National Liquor News Industry Leaders Forum, Laurie Wespes, CEO of Snooper, wrote about the future of the no and low alcohol (nolo) beer market, and how retailers can best support such a future.

It’s probably safe to say that no and low (‘nolo’) alcohol products, whilst perhaps leaving infancy and moving into toddlerhood, are unlikely to be a fad or flash in the pan given the overarching consumer trends they tap into.

As with any new product category or segment, its instore execution likewise goes through growing pains. Snooper’s shoppers recently had a look at how nolo beer is being executed in-store and found a number of opportunities for improvement, which we’ll discuss in this article. But first, some context.

The nolo beer market

According to Drinkwise, in 2017 one in five adult Australians were avoiding alcohol and this was up from 11 per cent compared to seven years prior. This has likely increased further since, given the ‘mindful drinking’ trend linked to increased health consciousness that has only been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, where an Illuminera study indicated that subsequent to initial overindulgence in both snacking products and alcohol earlier in the pandemic, consumers are looking to both reduce their consumption and switch to healthier alternatives. Accordingly, IRI data from April 2020 showed Heineken 0.0 and Carlton Zero to be among the top five beer brands in unit growth.

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