Non-alcoholic beer has been growing in popularity in Europe and elsewhere in the world, driving up sales.
Beer with little or no alcohol is on track to increase in global value by 26% from 2013 to 2018, the largest growth of any sector in the beer industry, according to Euromonitor.
Research from Mintel shows the people are going for alcohol free beer because of increased interest in health, the desire to cut down on calories, fear of drinking and driving and because the beers now available have a more original taste than earlier versions.
The trend has been noted in many parts of Europe, led by Spain where 60% of beer drinkers, and 69% of those in the 45 to 54 age bracket, opt regularly for alcohol-free.
The country which drinks the most beer per head is the Czech Republic, but they are followed fairly sharpish by the Germans where nearly half of those bought non-alcohol beer last year, according to Mintel.
In Britain, one in seven last year opted to buy non-alcohol beer but for those aged between 18 and 34 the amount rose to one in four. Mintel called them “clearly a much more sensible generation”.
Even in the Middle East and North Africa, the market is predicted to grow some 9% for the next five years, according to Euromonitor.
A recent study commissioned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, brewers of Stella Artois and Budweiser, found that 59% of Britons would feel comfortable ordering a non-alcoholic beer while with friends, while half of respondents believe that the alcohol-free drinks are more socially acceptable than five years ago.
