Gin firm spots 'huge market' for booze-free drink

Sales of non-alcoholic products at pubs and bars are on the rise

Demand for low and no-alcohol drinks is rising rapidly, business owners have reported.

A gin distillery in Bournemouth, Dorset, said it ran out of its non-alcoholic gin due to high order levels.

Rupert Holloway, owner of Conker Gin Distillery, said there was a "huge market" for people who "can’t or don’t want to" drink alcohol.

Alcohol Change UK said, with 8.5 million people signing up to dry January this year, there has been growing demand for drink alternatives.

Some 80% of people who stop drinking in January still drink less, six months later, according to the charity.

Conker Gin Distillery makes gin and coffee liqueur and has now developed an alcohol-free gin alternative.

Mr Holloway said: “We just realised there was a huge market for people who either can’t drink or don’t want to, so we saw an opportunity to create something that basically makes the choice to drink less, easier and tastier.”

Mr Holloway said he realised his distillery needed to offer a non-alcoholic option alongside its Conker Dorset Gin

But maintaining the taste was not easy to develop, he revealed: “Developing the spirit was tricky, we started from the drink, so we worked back from a gin and tonic.

“We knew we needed something herbaceous, dry and works incredibly well with tonic.”

Bowser Leaf, his company's no-alcohol alternative, does not contain any gin botanical in the product.

Mr Holloway explained the product was a combination of household herbs, including thyme, mint, tarragon, basil and patchouli.

He said: “They create a fresh and green and, crucially, dry drink that pairs so well with citrus."

“It’s very different to gin but it replicates the moment."

David Chant is landlord of the Filly Inn, near Brockenhurst, Hampshire

David Chant, landlord of the Filly Inn, near Brockenhurst, Hampshire, said low and no-alcohol alternatives had "come on in leaps and bounds in a relatively short space of time".

Over the past five years, he said the category had “exploded” and that the “taste of the product is better than it’s ever been”.

Mr Chant said the pub's stock of low-alcohol drinks had run low in the past few weeks as more people looked for alternatives.

Beth Bartlett, from Basingstoke, gave up booze last October and, with the support of her social media sober community, she has stayed dry.

She said: “It was actually easier to think I’m not going to drink again than it was to think I’m going to go back but try and moderate it.

"I'm very proud of what I've achieved."

Ms Bartlett switched to alcohol-free drinks last October