UK’s alcohol-free beer Lucky Saint says it is not reliant on teetotallers

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The founder of Lucky Saint said that the UK’s largest dedicated alcohol- free beer brand was not reliant on drinkers going teetotal to drive sales as the company pushes to make its brew available on draught at more pubs.

The London-based group is instead benefiting from a broader trend of consumers adopting healthier diets in which they drink traditional beer as well as low-alcohol or alcohol-free versions, said Luke Boase, who worked as an equity analyst before founding Lucky Saint in 2018. 

“There is definitely a big sober movement but moderation is still a much bigger driver of the category,” said Boase, adding that more than 80 per cent of people buying low- or no-alcohol drinks also enjoy standard beer.

The world’s biggest brewers have already sought to capitalise on the trend, with Heineken, Budweiser and Guinness among the brands to have launched low-alcohol or alcohol-free versions in recent years.

“You’ve got consumers moderating across all categories, whether that’s meat consumption, alcohol or sugar,” said Boase. 

Lucky Saints ranks as the fourth most-popular brand in the category in the UK, trailing Heineken, which dominates with its Heineken 0.0, and Asahi, whose Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0 was launched last year and is now the second-biggest, according to Nielsen consumer data.

The volume of alcohol-free or low-alcohol beers consumed in the 10 biggest markets grew 5 per cent in 2023, bringing the value of the category to more than $13bn, according to drinks analytics group IWSR. In the UK, the market is worth an estimated £255mn and is expected to grow at an annual compound rate of 8 per cent until 2027, IWSR said.

Boase insisted that the presence of the biggest brewers in the market was ultimately a benefit, saying that “visibility and awareness of the category is growing . . . it’s massively helped…