The Butcombe brewing and drinks business performance showed 7.8% of its own-brewed keg beer sales are from its zero alcohol beers – mainly being Goram IPA Zero – and that figure is 10.5% when it comes to its packaged sales.
Meanwhile, Goram Zero Draught sales have risen 42.2% versus last year and packaged sales rose 60.4%, which includes bottles and cans.
Liberation Group chief operating officer Jayson Perfect explained: “There is a trend of customers looking to reduce their alcohol consumption, particularly across the younger demographic, but still wanting to have a great tasting beer.
“We have seen an increase in ‘zebra’ drinking where customers alternate between alcoholic beer and non-alcoholic beer in the same session.
Social drinking
“Having Goram IPA Zero on draught or in 440ml cans allow the customers to have a ‘pint’ of zero beer and still feel they are continuing to join in with social drinking.
“Customers are getting more health-conscious as well and our non-alcoholic beers are a healthier option than some of the other non-alcoholic options, as they do not have artificial sweeteners or caffeine, and also have half the calories of a regular beer.
“We get a lot of feedback that customers just love the taste of our beer as well, due to the way it’s brewed, particularly around the depth of flavour.
“Customers are now wanting to have something that matches well with food but isn’t alcoholic as well. Goram IPA Zero is now our most popular product on our online store, due to the repeat orders and the lack of beer in the marketplace that has the same quality and taste.”
Natural extension
It is clearly a growing market with the number of pubs selling Goram Zero IPA on draught being 59 in August 2023, which included the group’s managed estate and the free trade. That figure is now up to 88, representing a 49% uplift.
“There is quite a bit of seasonality to draught sales, so we do see this changing throughout the year,” Perfect added.
Butcombe has two zero percentage beers available on draught: Goram Zero IPA and Tall Tales Pale Ale Zero. Perfect said of the latter: “This is a natural extension of our very successful Tall Tales Pale Ale brand, which is the fastest growing keg ale in the south-west.
“It has a different flavour profile to Goram IPA Zero and is a much lighter, fruitier and less hoppy beer. This is currently being trialled in 30-litre kegs and we would envisage a small pack option becoming available in due course.
“We obviously can’t give too much away [about how we make the beers] but, unlike most breweries, we restrict fermentation to minimise alcohol production, rather than removing at a later stage, which can affect the flavour. So, we brew Goram IPA Zero and Tall Tales Zero in very much the same way we would brew an alcoholic version.”
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