UAE: Demand for non-alcoholic beverages sees more companies launch dry drinks
Globally, the demand for alcoholic drinks is going down, as more people start to make conscious health decisions. Diageo, one of the largest alcoholic beverage companies, recorded a 56 per cent increase in their non-alcoholic drinks portfolio.
Religious concerns, alcoholism and health risks are among the major reasons for people to gravitate towards 'dry' drinks.
In the UAE, when 0.0% drinks marketplace Drink Dry launched, there weren't many options for dry drinks. When Erika Doyle, the company's founder and CEO, was getting ready to prepare shipments of two products — non-alcoholic beer and sparkling wine — she did not have high expectations. 'Worst case scenario, nobody is going to buy it, and I just have to drink it all myself or give it to friends, host a lot of parties and lose a bit of money if the product expires,' she told Khaleej Times.
However, the products took off and Doyle had to fly in more shipments as demand skyrocketed. This was back in 2021, and fast forward to today, the market is ever expanding. In the UAE, the non-alcoholic beer market is expected to grow annually by 3.80 per cent in the next four years, with revenues totalling $94.6 million in 2025, according to Statista Market Insights.
Doyle started the online store as she didn't consume alcohol and other beverage options usually consisted of soft sugary drinks. When she first moved to the country six years ago, 'it genuinely felt like travelling back in time where there was just nothing available for an adult consumer who was health conscious and liked to socialise'.
Accidental Brewing
Majlis Craft Arabian Ale, a UAE-grown business, looked back in time to the region's history for inspiration. According to its company's founder, around 10,000 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula, the ale was 'accidentally' brewed after fragments of liquid were left over from preparing flatbread. Due to the hot weather, the bread underwent a process of fermentation, and back then because resources were scarce, the people couldn't afford to throw away the liquid. So, they conserved it, added more water to the mixture, and consumed the liquid.
The company's founder, Igor Sergunin, said though the people that drank the ale didn't know it at the time, the fermented beverage had health benefits which helped with digestion and gut health.
Sergunin wanted to differentiate his product from others in the market. Instead of traditionally brewing the malt and then removing the alcohol, Majlis uses a more time-consuming and costly technique of brewing it without alcohol from start to finish. 'It's all about the math,' Sergunin said. 'Usually, when you do the alcoholic brewing, you have the recipe, but most of the things you're doing by the taste. But in our situation, it's more about the malt.'
'Perfect Market'
In addition to homegrown brands, some international alcoholic companies are seeing the UAE as an attractive market to sell their non-alcoholic beverages. United Dutch Brewery decided to bring their '3 Horses' non-alcoholic malt beverage into the UAE over 30 years ago 'because we saw the opportunity,' manager of trade marketing Elske Den Besten said.
Others, like the European brewing company TCB Beverages, are also trying to enter the UAE market. Alex Kleon, managing director at TCB Beverages, said, 'For us, it's an additional new business category to go into the soft drink, alcohol-free, malt drink, beverages. We have that in Germany already, but I think this is the perfect market for it.'
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