The start-up commissioned market-research firm HIM! to talk to pubgoers about why and when they opted for tap water.
The findings showed that 32% of people would have ordered a soft drink instead of tap water in a pub because they weren’t offered an alternative.
Some 45% also said they would stay in pubs longer if the range of soft drinks improved — yet 62% of publicans don’t do anything to encourage soft-drinks sales in pubs.
“Here we have the perfect storm,” Smith told delegates at last week's PubOpsClub. “A desire for healthier food and drinks, a fall in alcoholic consumption per capita and evidence that people are disappointed with the current soft-drinks offer.”
Freedrinks estimates the lost profit from this to be £700m across the pub trade.
Smith set pubs a challenge to stock Zeo and use the support offered by Freedrinks to boost their “soft-drinks sales, profitability and dwell time”.