Opportunity · Oct 23, 2026
The low-and-no buyer still drinks your full-strength bottles
KAM Insights found 97% of monthly low-and-no drinkers in the UK also drink alcohol, so every zero-proof or mid-strength pour you refuse to sell is revenue leaving with a customer you already have. This gives you a way to test one SKU or one paid tasting-room pour against your existing audience instead of chasing a new one.
The Spirits Business reports on KAM Insights' Low & No Report 2026, presented by managing director Katy Moses at the No, Low & Mid-Strength Summit in London. The data shows 53% of UK adults now drink low- and no-alcohol products at least monthly, roughly 29 million people, up from 40% three years ago. The share who say they never drink low-and-no fell from 34% two years ago to 24%.
The cause is volume, not abstinence. Moses says 7% of UK adults now report 15-plus units a week, down from 16% in 2021, while 58% report six units or less, up from 37%. The people who never drink held roughly steady at 16%. She credits moderators managing their intake, a behavior that started with Gen Z and worked up through the age groups. KAM also found 59% track health metrics after drinking and 81% of that group changed what they bought as a result.
The opening sits in two numbers: 97% of monthly low-and-no drinkers also buy full-strength, and 60% tried a new brand in the category in the last 12 months. That is an audience you already have, shopping a category with almost no brand loyalty. The Spirits Business notes US off-premise non-alcoholic sales passed $1 billion, with spirits alternatives growing fastest. The likely consequence for US operators, and this part is inference, is that the UK's 53% is a preview of where your own tasting room and shelf mix lands in two to three years.
The move this month: put one paid zero-proof or mid-strength pour into the flight instead of comping water. A distillery tests a diluted or botanical expression. A brewery already has the NA tech. A winery can lead with a lower-ABV white in a 500ml. A shop builds a six-SKU set next to premium spirits, not by the soda. A distributor rep walks accounts with zero non-alc listings and prices one in.
Run it for 60 days and measure attach rate on mixed tables, where one guest is moderating and the rest are not.