a success story that moves millions of litres and euros
Spain drinks more non-alcoholic beer than the whole of Latin America; the drink accounts for 14% of total beer consumption per capita, making it an innovative niche that, according to consultancy Circana, generates almost 229 million euros a year in supermarkets alone.
The data shows that Spanish supermarkets sell 129 million litres of non-alcoholic beer per year (cumulative data from June 2023 to May 2024), up 2.7%, with the budget increasing by almost 8% compared to the previous period.
Like all other beers, it is quite a seasonal product, accounting for about 10% of demand between June and September.
The latest edition of the socio-economic report on the Spanish beer sector in 2023 indicates that the percentage of non-alcoholic beers consumed in relation to total beer is the highest in the Western world, accounting for 14% of per capita consumption.
“The total volume of non-alcoholic beer consumed in hectolitres in Spain was the same as in the whole of Latin America,” the report says.
The sector therefore explains this phenomenon by the habits and attention of the Spanish people to this drink, a popular option chosen “for its freshness and taste”, as well as “the high level of consumer responsibility”.
In fact, almost half of non-alcoholic beer consumption is associated with driving.
In this regard, the company’s CEO, Alberto Rodríguez-Toquero, stated on the podcast “Efeagro. Punto de Encuentro” that in this market “Spain is an example, an exceptional phenomenon” regarding this product.
“People drink beer for the taste, for its refreshing power or to quench their thirst, and there are times when the option of drinking alcohol is inappropriate” because they have to work, drive or do some activity that is incompatible with drinking alcohol, he argued.
Prices are rising more than the “con”
“Non-alcoholic or low-alcohol” beer sold at home has not escaped the general context of rising prices.
According to the latest Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices report with data as of June, this product increased in price by 3.6% in the first half of the year, which is three times higher than the increase in food prices in general (1.3%).
According to the same statistics, this also exceeds the record 2.5% recorded in the soft drinks category.
According to the Food Consumption Panel of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with data for 2023, each Spaniard consumes only 3.16 liters of non-alcoholic beer at home per year, compared to 16.13 liters of “conflicts”.
This report presents an “intensive” profile of the non-alcoholic beer consumer, corresponding to the middle class household, but especially the upper and upper middle class, whose purchasing manager is over 50 years old and whose life cycle corresponds to retirees, adult couples without children and couples with older children.
Among the autonomous communities, Andalusia had the highest per capita consumption of non-alcoholic beer in 2023, with consumption exceeding the national average by 0.56 litres per person per year.
Product at the service of innovation
Leading Spanish beer company Mahou San Miguel has ensured that in recent years the 0.0 and non-alcoholic beer category has experienced “significant growth and has become relevant in beer consumption” in Spain.
The company’s global non-alcoholic brand director, Beatriz Fernández Loyzaga, assured EFE that the non-alcoholic variety, which currently has twelve names on the market, currently accounts for around 9% of total beer sales in Spain.
In 2001, this company launched the first 0.0 toast, San Miguel, and in 2017, Mahou 0.0 toast became a real revolution that continues to grow and develop. EFEKOM