The LCBO's hottest trend? Non-alcoholic drinks

Ontario's biggest purveyor of booze, the LCBO, is seeing a surge in sales from an unlikely source: non-alcoholic drinks.

According to recently released sales data, non-alcoholic beverages saw the highest per cent-based growth year-over-year, with revenue nearly doubling from $5.7 million in 2023 to $10 million this year. The LCBO's non-alcoholic products include beer, cider, wine, pre-mixed cocktails and spirits.

Beverages without alcohol saw a 73 per cent sales increase this year compared to 2023 and a 189 per cent increase compared to 2022, according to an LCBO news release outlining its 2024 sales highlights. 

For comparison, the fastest selling alcoholic product this year was ready-to-drink cocktails, which saw a 17 per cent sales increase over last year.  

The LCBO's senior director of spirits, Alanna Bailey, says customers are becoming more interested in moderating their alcohol consumption and now there are quality products for them to choose from.

"We are seeing great innovation in the [non-alcoholic] space," she said. "You're basically not sacrificing any of the taste and they're very similar to their other products."

One expert on alcohol-free products based in Toronto says the number of people turning to zero-proof, or non-alcoholic, offerings has exploded over the last few years thanks to a focus on wellness, the pandemic and younger generations' drinking habits. 

Sarah Kate started Some Good Clean Fun –  a website and online newsletters dedicated to non-alcoholic drink recipes, reviews and where to buy the beverages in Canada –  in 2021 after noticing a lack of information and expertise on the subject in Canada.

"Three years later, the category has completely exploded to the point where you can now go to your local bodega and chances are they're going to have something," she said.

Kate says that change was driven by "the perfect formula": a focus on wellness, recent guidelines that recommend little or no alcohol and the COVID-pandemic, when many people increasingly turned to alcohol.

"People were making jokes about it. 'Oh, look at me, I've got wine in my teacup while I'm having a Zoom meeting. We've come out of the pandemic and people are saying, 'I actually don't want to drink this much anymore; I've got to cut back. I don't like how I'm feeling," Kate said. 

Kate says up until this year, she would have given Gen Z the credit for pushing the change to non-alcoholic choices, but says she's now seeing people of all ages, especially the 35 to 50 category wanting to cut back. 

Still, 19-year-old Peyton Verhoeven says she and her friends have always been mindful of the negative effects alcohol can have.

"It's honestly scary to hear as a generation," she said. "When there are these really similar non-alcoholic tasting products being sold at the LCBO, why not choose those instead of something that would be hurting your body and your mental health?"