(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Sober October has joined dry January and no alcohol November on the list of social media sobriety challenges.
Phil Lempert, of supermarketguru.com, joined the WBBM Noon Business Hour and said the movement toward non-alcoholic drinks may be a reaction to the spike in alcohol sales in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After the pandemic subsided, people just said, ‘Hey, I was drinking too much,’” he said. “Now, we’ve got sober October, dry January and people are getting part of these movements.”
Another factor: Generation Z has “really been shying away from alcohol,” Lempert said. He pointed to recent studies, which have contradicted the idea that one glass of wine per day is good for a person’s heart, as one of the things affecting how younger adults view alcohol.
“They believe that drinking any amount of alcohol is bad for you,” he said.
The alcohol-free space has evolved in recent years. Forbes said sales of non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits jumped 7% in 10 key global markets, with sales surpassing $11 billion dollars in 2022.
Grocery stores and alcohol companies have noticed the trend, and Lempert said they are adapting.
“You might be taking 10 cases of Budweiser off the shelf, but Budweiser’s putting their non-alcohol products in that same space,” he said. “I think from a supermarket’s standpoint, it’s relatively easy to do.”
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