New export boost for Co Down’s specialist in booze-free drinks

Shoppers at Dunnes Ireland, the biggest store chain in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, will be able to enjoy tasty alcohol-free cocktails from a small Portaferry company which is leading the trend here towards such beverages.

DrinkNo/Low, an innovative business set up by entrepreneurial couple David and Jill Crawford in December last year, has won their first major contract with Dunnes Ireland to provide Highball cocktails made without alcohol to the retailer which has over 130 stores across the island of Ireland.

The Co Down company, in addition, is to supply Lynas Foodservice in Coleraine, one of the biggest food and drink distributors on the island of Ireland, with a range of alcohol-free sparkling wines in time for customers to celebrate this Christmas and the New Year.

A delighted Jill, the commercial director, continues: “The agreements with Dunnes Ireland and Lynas are our biggest deals since we launched Drink No/Low last year.

There’s clearly an appetite here, in Ireland and Great Britain for drinks which either have no or are low in alcohol content.

“We’ve been pitching for business with major supermarkets over the past six months and have now achieved this exciting breakthrough with Dunnes, a market leader in the Republic and Northern Ireland. While it has taken time and essential resources, the deal gives us a springboard for faster growth especially in the Republic of Ireland, a huge marketplace. The agreement with Lynas provides access to an extensive and well-established distribution network.

“As well as the significant and immensely encouraging orders from Dunnes Ireland and Lynas, our online sales have tripled from when we launched the website last December,” explains Jill.

Menus of no alcohol beverages have also been produced for several hotels including the trendy Bullitt in Belfast and the Marine Court in Ballycastle.

The low and non-alcoholic drinks market (‘NoLo’) in the UK, Ireland and further afield is certainly experiencing rapid growth as many more people move away from booze to alternative beverages. And the research now backs up the local company. No alcoholic beer sales in Ireland more than doubled from 2017 to 2020 and continue to grow, according to industry body Drinks Ireland. Internationally, it’s predicted that the no-alcoholic beer category will grow annually by around 9% to at least 2025 NoLo sales in UK supermarkets, for instance, rose by 50% in 2020-21, hitting £200 million. NoLo consumption in the UK is also projected by experts to grow by a further 31% by 2024. The Society of Independent Brewers found recently that one in three young adults has reduced their alcohol consumption. Drinking trends are changing.

“The key to continuing growth in the category is a greater variety of options for those seeking alternatives to alcohol, the strategic focus of our small business,” she continues

Jill, who previously owned Just Live a Little, a globally successful enterprise making healthy breakfast granolas and energy bars, with husband David. They sold Just Live a Little, a hugely successful export business, to Kestrel Foods in Craigavon last year.

“Our focus is on innovation and quality that feeds into the manufacturing of the new wave of non-alcoholic spirits,” she continues.

Their approach was shaped by the launch of alcohol-free Guinness and Gordon’s Gin options and they decided to focus on craft beers, wines and other beverages produced without alcohol that can be accessed both digitally and through conventional distribution channels. The discussions on the sale of the breakfast business led them to look for new opportunities in which they could invest their resources and energy.

“We identified a new business opportunity from the development of the No/Low drinks sector as one of the fastest growing and most interesting categories in drink. Research indicated a growing interest in no alcohol beers and spirits. There was also only so much sugar-free cola and alcohol-free lager that could be taken – so we went on a bit of a mission to find the best non-alcoholic drink alternatives,” she adds.

They found a developing market that included options in wine and spirits with health benefits.

There were “delicious cocktails and superb beers tasting as good as, if not much better than, their alcoholic alternatives in international markets”. “This gave us the idea to make these available throughout Ireland,” Jill explains.

Drink No/Low, she continues, was created as “a one stop shop for all drinks non-alcoholic”. 

The venture, she adds, “is all about supplying people and traders here and in the Republic of Ireland with the very best beverages that the No/Lo category has to offer and at affordable prices with great value for money”.

The company quickly tied up with many of the world’s leading producers of no/low alcohol beverages such as craft beers, beer and cider, spirits, cocktails and wine from established suppliers.