The market intelligence firm surveyed 1,153 consumers aged 18-54: finding that around 30% of consumers participated in Dry January, with 88% of those successfully abstaining from alcohol during the month. Around 7 in 10 of those participating said they’d visited bars, restaurants or similar venues during the month.
Still focus on soft drinks
While the availability of low and no alcohol drinks has increased, consumers who took part in Dry January still were most likely to gravitate towards soft drinks: significantly ahead of other drinks with 72% consumers making this their drink of choice. Hot drinks were the second most popular choice amongst consumers (34%). Energy drinks were also attractive to consumers: with 20% turning to this category.
The percentage of consumers who said they had explored alcohol-free alternative categories was considerably lower: such as mocktails (32%), non-alcoholic beer (25%), non-alcoholic spirits (19%) and non-alcoholic wine (13%).
When asked to indicate why they’d made the choice to not drink alcohol, consumers said they had no interest in getting drunk (41%) or because they wanted to pace themselves during an extended social gathering (20%).
For other consumers it was a question of necessity: with 35% saying they were driving and 16% citing health reasons or dietary requirements (8%). Around 2% chose not to drink for religious reasons.
Looking at the traditional alcoholic beverages of choice, beer is a popular with 71% of visitors to the on-trade saying they had drunk beer in the last three months. Soft drinks attracted 56% of consumers, while tequila (44%), cocktails (34%) and whiskey (34%) were also popular.
CGA’s research also looked at whether consumers who tried no and low alcohol categories would continue drinking them once Dry January had ended.
Around two-thirds of consumers who tried mocktails said they’d continue drinking them after the campaign had ended, while nearly three-quarters (72%) who drank non-alcoholic beer over the course of the month would choose it again in the on premise post-January.
With these consumers wanting supplement their alcoholic drink choice with non-alcoholic options, suppliers and operators need to think about encouraging trial and experimentation with a selection of low and no alcohol brands.
Mike Rende, Associate Client Solutions Manager, Americas, said: “CGA’s latest consumer research in Mexico highlights the growing interest in non-alcoholic beverage options in the on premise, and just how important it is for brands, suppliers and operators to consider their non-alcoholic offering to capture and fully capitalize across consumer segments interested in exploring this category in both Dry January and beyond.”
