The lager shandy evokes nostalgia for many pub goers. The lager-lemonade combo was once used to moderate beer, but it’s fallen out of favour since the growth of non-alcoholic brands. If you look at the wider non-alcoholic beer sector, it’s dominated by trademark brands replicating their successful lager, just without the alcohol. This strategy makes a lot of sense and is clearly working, but when…
We wanted to champion a sense of time and place and Hazel showcases the transition through the dormancy of winter to the awakening of spring in our own forest. We coppiced the hazel in December, slowly roasting it to give us vibrant notes of fresh-cut wood and a soft, nutty character, and foraged hazel leaf buds and catkins in early spring. Harvesting oak and silver…
Prior to this partnership with Speciality Brands we worked with wholesalers for seasn and our first Sylva release was sold only direct to consumer and direct on allocation to Selfridges, Berry Bros & Rudd with select bars and restaurants creating an account and buying from us directly. We’re doing something nobody has done before with Sylva’s dark non-alc spirits and learning live which is why…
Because the category is still so young, with around 98% of non-alcoholic brands under five years old, there hasn’t been enough time for basic price brackets to form which consumers can understand. It’s been easy for some producers to create super-cheap liquids of lower quality and sell for a high margin, which in turn makes for a poor first experience with people feeling cheated and…
Visually there’s a fine line between doing something fresh and exciting and being too conceptual. Consumers are attracted to brands aligned with traditional spirits because they’re seeking a non-alcoholic alternative, but if it looks too similar then it could also be overlooked by those seeking to moderate. It’s certainly a hard balance to get right. Historically the first place consumers often came across a product…
My stance is really simple; rather than compete with the big alcohol brands, the non-alc category would do well to let the established alcohol trademarks make their 0.0% versions, allowing new brands to focus on pioneering different non-alcoholic liquids. If you are a new brand doing non-alcoholic gin or non-alcoholic rum, be warned. I do not see a purposeful role for new brands mimicking what…
My stance is really simple; rather than compete with the big alcohol brands, the non-alc category would do well to let the established alcohol trademarks make their 0.0% versions, allowing new brands to focus on pioneering different non-alcoholic liquids. If you are a new brand doing non-alcoholic gin or non-alcoholic rum, be warned. I do not see a purposeful role for new brands mimicking what…
