Robinson told The Morning Advertiser low & no alcohol drink sales have risen from 1.4% to 1.8% for the brewer and pub operator and added this may be a relatively small percentage – but it is growing.
Robinson said: “The key to growth in that area is to have choice so it’s not just one or two low & no beers, but maybe three or possibly four, and of different styles and also in other categories, whether that be cider or in zero spirits.”
Wine is improving
Robinson added one area of growth is wine and despite struggling to be of a comparable quality versus beer, it has improved massively even in the past couple of years.
He said a huge amount of energy, time, money and NPD investment has been going in to improve low & no wine and admitted: “It’s starting to get there on sparkling but there’s still some work to do on red and white so it doesn’t just taste like grape juice or kombucha”.
Robinson attended Club Soda’s No, Low & Mid summit in London in late October where he was keen to take advice on board. Meanwhile, the wine team at Robinsons is looking to see how the category evolves because of the need to improve the low & no wine offer at his pubs.
He added: “We’re also seeing a different style of consumer. People may not be drinking [alcohol], zebra striping or reducing their alcohol intake for all sorts of reasons – most of that is probably from a health point of view.
Make the experience great
“Understanding what people want whether they are zebra striping or abstaining altogether is important because we want them to go to the pub because it brings communities together. We need to make sure the experience guests have at the pub is a really great one.”
He added that when a customer orders a low & no drink, it must look great and tastes like “a full leaded one”. This results in more people talking at pubs rather than being on their phones and this is “far better for their mental health”.
Robinsons’ new Bredbury site is home to a de-alcoholisation line and the business is always looking at new product development for the category. He said. “We’ve got to make sure that whatever we produce is the best it can be. It’s all about high quality and we need the production turnover to make sure the quality is maintained.
“A low & no draught offer is important and although we’re not doing our own right now that doesn’t mean we never will.”
