For a growing number of people, saying no to alcohol is not a 'Dry July' charity stint, but rather a lasting lifestyle change – and businesses are cashing in on the zero-alcohol trend.
Adrian Allier was quick to notice the burgeoning business opportunities it presented. Last March, he opened Free Spirit Drink Co, Perth's first 100 per cent non-alcoholic drink store.
"From day one, it was just mind-blowing how many people were actually interested in this product and wanting to buy these products," he said.
"We started the business with only 30 products, we've now got over 200."
Not only has the product range grown but Mr Allier noticed so too has the demographic of the customer base.
"When we first started the business, the majority of my clients were women," he said.
"But in the last six months or so, because the beer market has taken off — we've now got over 75 different alcohol-free beers that we sell — and now we're seeing more men starting to change their habits."
More booze-free drink options
Michael Payne was part of this cohort making a lifestyle change.
He stopped drinking alcohol in July 2020 but found the booze-free options at that point lacking. So he decided to take matters into his own hands, creating an alcohol-free beer.
He recruited Matt Crockett, a brewer at Little Creatures Brewery, to help create Lightning Minds pale ale last year.
"I think because we've grown up in that era where everything you do and every time you celebrate, (alcohol) is around," the 42-year-old said.
"You're used to celebrating any sort of moment in your life with a drink.
"Australian culture is wrapped around bars and pubs but I found that I had the same energy if I was in a pub environment with a beer in my hand, even though it was non-alcoholic."
Others have since followed, with local craft beer brewer Gage Roads releasing Yeah Buoy, a non-alcoholic XPA, earlier this year.
Australian drinking-culture changing
Australia is renowned for its heavy drinking culture, but studies are showing that's rapidly changing, particularly among younger generations.
Michael Livingston, an Associate Professor at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, says alcohol consumption among young adults in Australia has declined steadily since 2000.
"On almost every measure and every survey you look at, teenagers are drinking less, a lot less, than they were 20 years ago," he said.
What's behind this change in behaviour is still unknown.
Professor Livingston said there are several theories, from increased education about the health impacts of alcohol, to the constant surveillance aspect of social media.
"There are qualitative data interviews with young people that highlight the idea of the kind of pressures they see themselves as under to perform as citizens, to get a good uni degree, get a good job, thrive at sport and be ticking all these boxes," he explained.
Sobriety more socially acceptable
Professor Livingston also pointed to the growing number of support services and movements, such as Dry July, Hello Sunday Morning and Untoxicated, helping people make healthier choices and removing the social stigma of going booze-free.
Sarah Rusbatch is adding to this support network. After quitting booze in 2019, she decided to have a career change, becoming a certified Health and Wellbeing Coach and an accredited "Grey Area Drinking Coach".
"I think of grey area drinking as being a scale of one to ten. One being someone who very rarely drinks, maybe has a glass of champagne at a wedding once a year type of thing," she explained.
"Ten being someone physically dependent on alcohol — and what's in between is the grey area."
Ms Rasbutch offers several services, from one-to-one coaching to group challenges.
She says she's supported over 2,000 women to change their relationship with alcohol and points to the rapid growth of her business as proof of more people waking up to the benefits of sobriety.
"I've now got a free Facebook community, which is global and that's got 11,000 women in it."
Just a passing trend?
Professor Livingston says it is still not known whether Australia's growing sobriety is just a passing trend or if it will continue. But if sales trends are anything to go by, the alcohol-free category is taking off.
Endeavour Group, which owns Dan Murphy's and BWS, says zero alcohol products remain one of their fastest-growing categories, with sales of these drinks across their stores growing more than 150 per cent in the last two years.
Perhaps it's telling that earlier this year Dan Murphy's opened its first bar in Victoria, called ZERO%, selling only non-alcoholic drinks. Endeavour says it's hoping to take the concept to new locations across the country.
Mr Allier points to the growing range of brands offering non-alcoholic products as proof of the growing popularity.
He said creating non-alcoholic wine was a particularly difficult and expensive process, yet more traditional wineries are investing resources into offering booze-free options.
"It's absolutely not a passing trend," Mr Allier said.
"If it was a passing trend, I don't think the investment would be coming, I don't think big business would invest like they are."
Mr Allier has plans to eventually expand his stores around Perth, and perhaps open a zero-alcohol bar.
"Based on the amount of product we sell in Perth, I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to say that it will happen," he said.
Mr Payne also plans to expand Lightning Minds and offer a larger range of non-alcoholic drinks, besides beer.
Ms Rasbutch said from her experience it's not just the younger generation, but middle-aged people who are rethinking their relationship with alcohol.
"I think there's so much more awareness," Ms Rasbutch insists.
"People are talking about the darker side of alcohol rather than just being like 'oh yeah alcohol is great and fun'. People are openly saying alcohol causes anxiety, it causes depression, it messes up your hormones."
