No or low? No way, Jose!

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I’ve just been invited to a no and low tasting hailed as “the driest event of the year”. I had to decline as I’ll be busy watching fox poo dry on a pavement that day.

What has the world come to? I know producers who spend all day, every day tending to their vines so that the grapes taste of the land they grow in.

Not one of them has ever said to me, “this would taste so much better if we removed all of the alcohol with a centrifugal spinning column”…

Ok rant over. I’m a diehard alcohol-in wine kind of wine merchant, have been ever since my first job at Thresher’s Brixton way back in 1996. But I get that Brits are “drinking differently”.

What I’m seeing in my bars is confirmed by this year’s KAM Market report on the no and low drinking space. Not only are people moderating but they actively swerving places that don’t offer great alcohol free (AF) substitutes.

Fun F&B fact: 37% of UK adults have either left a venue early or been left disappointed as a result of poor no and low options. Add this to the 24% of non-drinkers that choose tap water rather than something that they don’t really want and you are looking at an estimated £800m a year in lost sales. 

In my mind, catering to this does not necessarily mean offering big brand AF beverages that are lower in taste but higher in price. As well as the growing crowd of small brewers and startups making innovative no and low drinks, there’s a myriad of gorgeous naturally AF fruit juices, soft drinks and teas out there too.

Or why not try a white port and tonic instead of a G&T, half the strength and absolutely delicious?

From Boomers to Gen Z, people aren’t giving up on alcohol, they are just being more conscious about how much they drink meaning business is always evolving on Planet of the Grapes.

Just don’t ever, ever, invite me to the driest event of the year…

Matt Harris - Founder of Planet of the Grapes

Matt started his Food & Beverage journey aged 19 working at Thresher's in Brixton. With a WSET diploma in wine and spirits under his belt, he went on to establish wine merchants Planet of the Grapes in 2004. Now - at the ripe old age of 52 - Matt's empire includes multiple venues around London including bars in Leadenhall Market and East Dulwich as well as restaurant Fox Fine Wines & Spirits at London Wall.

Planet of the Grapes