Pernod Ricard acquires minority stake in Lewis Hamilton’s non-alcoholic agave spirit

Pernod Ricard says Almave represents the ‘confluence of three accelerating global trends’: namely tequila, non-alcoholic products and the desire for authenticity.

The French wine and spirits giant will use its brand building and global distribution to help scale the product to several markets throughout the world.

Tequila without the alcohol

Launched less than a year ago in the US and UK, the non-alcoholic tequila alternative Almave uses the same raw materials as tequila, but skips the fermentation process that produces alcohol.

That ‘provides drinkers with the option to enjoy tequila’s fresh and distinct agave taste and character, without the alcohol’, explains the brand.

The drink can be enjoyed on its own, sipped; or alternatively can be mixed into cocktails.

Almave launched in October 2023 with two expressions.

Almave Ámbar Distilled Non-Alcoholic Blue Agave Spirit was created for sipping.

Then there's Almave Blanco Distilled Non-Alcoholic Blue Agave Spirit, which was created for mixing.

Almave was co-founded by Hamilton, spirits innovation incubator Casa Lumbre in Mexico and advisory and investment firm Copper.

The financial details of Pernod Ricard’s investment have not been disclosed.

Pernod Ricard boosts alcohol-free with dedicated business unit

Pernod Ricard – whose portfolio includes global heavyweights such as Absolut vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine’s, Jameson Irish whiskey, Beefeater gin, Malibu liqueur and Mumm champagnes – made its first major move in the alcohol-free in 2021 with the purchase of a majority stake in pioneering brand Ceder’s.

It’s also launched various alcohol-free versions of its flagship brands: such as Beefeater 0.0%​, Seagram’s 0.0%, Suze Tonic Zero and Jacob’s Creek Unvined Wines (the latter brand is now being sold to Accolade Wines​).

Pernod Ricard says that non-alcoholic spirit alternatives have the potential to play a ‘key role’ in net sales.

To this end, in 2022 it created a new business unit based in Paris, dedicated to growing the non-alcoholic category with expertise in marketing, insights, operations, and business development.

It has also invested in technical facilities dedicated to accelerating its expertise in non-alcoholic spirit alternatives including but also beyond gin.

Opportunities for agave in alcohol-free

The alcohol-free market is booming in the US and UK, where Almave is currently available. In the US, non-alcoholic drink volumes were up 29% in 2023 compared to the year before, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis data. The UK market saw growth of 17%.

In the low/no category​, popular products tend to mirror what's being seen in the full-strength sector. 

Tequila alternatives, in particular, have a strong pathway forward, Susie Goldspink, Head of No and Low-Alcohol, IWSR, said. 

"The US no alcohol spirits market is well poised for strong growth as the large market is relatively under-indexing in terms of uptake of no-alcohol products compared with some European markets," she said. "Double digit growth is expected in all major no-alcohol categories (Beer, Wine and Spirits).

"No-alcohol tequila products are a clear opportunity following the growth of the full-strength category in the US coupled with the saturation of no alcohol gin and botanical products, leading to investment in new no-alcohol spirits sub-categories such as tequila and dark spirits."