White Claw enters nonalcoholic category with zero-proof beverage

Dive Brief:

• White Claw is expanding its portfolio with a line of nonalcoholic beverages, White Claw 0% Alcohol. The brand said it prioritized making a drink with “all the taste and complexity you expect in an alcoholic beverage, made non-alcoholic from the start.”
• The seltzers, which will be available on select shelves in January 2024, come in four flavors: Black Cherry Cranberry, Lime Yuzu, Peach Orange Blossom and Mango Passion Fruit. The drinks also contain electrolytes for hydration.
• As the number of young people moderating or abstaining from alcohol continues to grow, leading brands in the booze space are jockeying for a piece of the low- and no-alcohol category.

Dive Insight:

White Claw’s ascent to hard seltzer domination in the late 2010’s signaled a sea of change in the alcohol space, particularly in which beverages were most appealing to younger consumers.

A slew of other entrants flooded the sector, including Boston Beer’s Truly and AB InBev’s Bud Light Seltzer. The category has since seen its growth slow, as other offerings like ready-to-drink cocktails began to capture consumers’ attention. At the same time, many younger consumers reported drinking less alcohol than previous generations.

While still the leader in the hard seltzer space, White Claw’s move to expand into nonalcoholic drinks comes as it looks toward the future. The brand said in a press release it conducted extensive consumer research, finding 69% of people who drink alcohol are interested in embracing a “sober curious” lifestyle. That figure increased to 81% for Gen Z, its target demographic.

“The industry is ripe for disruption as demand for flavorful, non-alcoholic drinks is on the rise, but current options like excessively sweet mocktails, bland waters, and near-beers are disconnected from what today’s adult drinkers want. White Claw 0% Alcohol paves the way for an entirely new adult beverage,” said Phil Rosse, the president of White Claw’s parent company Mark Anthony Brands, in a statement.

The value-add of electrolytes in White Claw 0% Alcohol drinks follows increasing interest in hydration products among young consumers. The brand said it found 72% of consumers wished more nonalcoholic beverages contained electrolytes.

The nonalcoholic drinks space is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.2% through 2027, according to Fortune Business Insights.

Spiros Malandrakis, head alcohol industry researcher at Euromonitor International, predicted in an interview with Food Dive this fall that the next decade in the beverage industry will be defined by a “blurring of category lines where alcoholic players are entering the nonalcoholic arena.”