UK must change thinking around non-drinkers as 1 in 3 pub visits alcohol-free
One in three pub visits are stone cold sober as Brits shun beer for alcohol-free and low-alcohol tipples.
More than a third (37 per cent) of restaurant visits are also alcohol-free, according to a freshly published report from KAM and alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint.
Just over half of UK drinkers drink fewer than ten units of alcohol per week while this cohort are the most likely to visit a pub at least once per month (87 per cent).
Drinkers said they opted for soft drinks on nights out due to having to drive, followed by wanting to stay alert for a big day the next day (31 per cent), not drinking within a social group (30 per cent) and wanting to attend an activity like sports shortly after.
The UK needed to re-think its idea around the ‘non-drinker’ in pubs, Luke Boase, founder of Lucky Saint, said on Monday.
The country’s European counterparts, such as Spain, France and Germany, had clinched at least five times the UK’s market share for low and no options.
“We’re at the start of a cultural shift in our attitudes towards drinking in the UK, as we see an increasing number of drinkers who prefer to moderate their choices,” Boase added,
“In a sector that only knows people as drinkers and non-drinkers, there isn’t much understanding of how to cater to the majority of UK pub-goers currently,” he explained.