Non-alcoholic beer has quickly grown as bigger beer giants like AB InBev and Heineken launch new products as well as the rise of brewers like Athletic Brewing.[[“value”:”
The start of ‘Dry January,’ a month when many people avoid drinking alcohol, typically brings a heightened level of attention to non-alcoholic drinks. But the CEO of one of the leading non-alcoholic beer companies said that the demand for non-alcoholic brews is booming well beyond a single month.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for in the category,” Bill Shufelt, Athletic Brewing CEO, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box “on Wednesday.
Long a sleepy category within the broader industry of beer, non-alcoholic beer has seen its growth skyrocket in recent years as bigger beer giants like AB InBevHeineken
The lack of quality non-alcoholic beer options was the impetus for Shufelt, a former trader at Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, to start the Connecticut-based company in 2017, which solely focuses on non-alcoholic brewing.
“[Non-alcoholic beer] has gone from something that was 0.3% of the beer category and a total afterthought and penalty box beverage to something that is really exciting, aspirational, and kind of reframing how modern adults think,” Shufelt said.
Shufelt said that non-alcoholic beers now make up more than 2% of all beer sold at U.S. grocery stores, and at some national chain retailers, it is upwards of 8% of their beer category.
