BCBusiness

14 O n t h e R a d a r illu s t r a t i o n : A d o b e S t o c k / S o n ulk a s t e r B C B U S I N E S S . C A J U LY/A U G U S T 2 0 24 ON THE RADAR SOURCES: STATISTICS CANADA, NIELSEN IQ and then the non-alc is usually pop out of a soda gun. Really uninspiring." As more and more people in his life stopped drinking, Devine started experimenting with recipes for a virgin cock- tail, ready-to-drink in a can. He opted for premium ingredients like organic cane sugar and spirit extract to create Edna's, which goes for $16.99 for a four-pack. "And because I wasn't fully convinced that the non-alc scene was going to go as crazy as it has, I deliberately made them full-flavoured so that they could be used as a mixer also," he says. Much to Devine's relief, the change is palpable, with brands like Guinness, Peroni, Stella Artois and Tanqueray releasing alcohol-free versions of their beers and gin. ("When you see the big guys mak- ing these moves, you know something special is happen- ing," Devine notes.) Locally speaking, we've also got dry Duchess cocktails and Never- theless beer by Strange Fellows Brewing, both of which sit on Mocktails' shelves. In Hansen's string of cus- tomers, I overhear some men- tion abstinence ("I'm on day 23," "Alcohol gives me heart palpitations") as they thank her for opening Mocktails. When Hansen and I begin chat- ting, she tells me that the store is a one-woman show, and that she launched it to help people like herself, who quit drinking or are reducing their intake. "Everyone deserves access to this stuff," she says. "People who don't drink or are sober- curious or are taking medica- tions, pregnant women—it's just so nice to have one shop to go to." And she's had to order more products every few days: "According to people in the industry, we are one of the top buyers here, which is quite impressive for a store our size." (As of press time, Mocktails has been open for three months.) There are others like it in the province—Beevee's in Port Coquitlam and Sobar in Kelowna—demonstrating a rising demand that the Matkovich brothers pointed to. An increasing number of establishments are seeking out brands like Nonny and Edna's, with Devine reporting that the latter is in some 1,200 stores in B.C., including the Pattison Food Group (Save On Foods, Buy Low, Nesters), London Drugs and even Target in the U.S. While I'm chatting with Hansen, another customer enters Mocktails. She helps him pick out some beer and he, too, thanks her for opening the store. She turns back to me with a smile. "This hype around non-alc. Do you think it's temporary?" I ask. "Absolutely not," she says. "I think there's too much aware- ness for it to go backwards. And I think it's just the start, that it's actually going to grow." According to a Nielsen IQ study in the U.S., non-alcoholic industry sales grew by Vancouver-based Sansorium, an alcohol-free online marketplace, is forecasting seven figures of revenue for 2024 The same study suggests that 94% of consumers of non-alcoholic drinks also purchase alcoholic beverages 31% between 2022 to 2023, crossing over US$500 million in revenue ALCOHOL SALES IN CANADA DECREASED BY 1.2% IN 2022, THE LARGEST DROP IN MORE THAN A DECADE The number of alcohol- induced deaths in Canada reached an all-time high during the pandemic: StatsCan reports 3,200 deaths in 2019, 3,790 in 2020 and 3,875 in 2021 The 18% increase alcohol-related deaths between 2019-2020 is the largest jump recorded in the last 20 years, with people under 65 years of age accounting for most of it DRINKING IT IN From top: Lane and Leigh Matkovich tap into success with Nonny Beer; Edna's co-founder Nick Devine joins the non-alcoholic wave with premium virgin cocktails

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