Beverage brands joining the growing ‘Sober Curious’ movement

If a bar doesn’t serve alcohol, is it really a bar? If a beer doesn’t get you buzzed, is it really a beer? As alcohol purveyors and entrepreneurs seek to cash in on the trend of healthy beverages, twists on nonalcoholic adult drinks are popping up everywhere. The idea of a spirited beverage without the spirits is appealing to today’s sober curious. Yep, that’s a thing. Being sober curious is not about abstaining from alcohol altogether. Instead, it’s a new, mindful approach to drinking — or not drinking — for the wellness devotee. As Brandy Rand, chief marketing officer of The IWSR, which tracks the beverage and alcohol industry, told Bon Appétit, “25- to 44-year-olds are ‘significantly trying to reduce their alcohol intake.'” That’s likely why the market for low- to zero-alcohol beverages is expected to grow by 32 percent between 2018 and 2022. And while many of these drinks are being produced by small-batch entrepreneurs, Big Alcohol and Big Beverage are embracing an alcohol-free future as well.