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 other established spirits are already doing.
If people really want a non-alcoholic gin, the easiest to find is an existing gin brand with an alcohol-free option. Imitation is for alcohol brands to worry about, because they have the trademark and a product to match and aim at. If you order Guinness 0.0 for example, you’d better believe it’s going to taste like Guinness.
I don’t see the fun, excitement or long-term commercial viability in trying to imitate an existing spirit category when there are so many incredible plants, techniques and natural ingredients to work with, coupled with an audience curious to experiment with the category.
What I’ve seen over the past 10 years is that the new brands which continue to do well have individuality – they aren’t imitating something else. They strike the right balance between familiarity and freedom, ensuring occasion, serve and a delicious product are core to their strategy.
Ultimately there’s space and a huge opportunity for these individual new brands and the non-alcoholic versions of established alcoholic spirits, but new non-alcoholic ’gin’ or ’vodka’ brands will get squeezed out of the market. Innovate, don’t imitate.
Ben Branson founded the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit brand, Seedlip, in 2015 and three years later Diageo bought the majority. Since then, Branson has launched Seasn cocktail bitters and runs a successful charity podcast about neurodivergence called The Hidden 20%. His most recent project, Sylva, uses advanced technology to create the effects of wood ageing on non-alcoholic spirits.
