Alcohol-free drinks are becoming big business
无酒精饮料正在成为大生意

Dry January is under way. After the excesses of the festive period, nearly one-third of Americans are expected to give up, or at least cut down on, alcohol this month. Many will save money. Some will lose weight.
干燥的一月已经开始。经过节日期间的过度狂欢，预计近三分之一的美国人将在本月戒酒或至少减少饮酒。许多人会省钱。有些人会减肥。
And a growing number will still continue to drink their favourite tipple—or at least something close to it.
越来越多的人将继续饮用他们最喜欢的小酒，至少是接近他们最喜欢的小酒。

The teetotal and “sober curious” are no longer restricted to fizzy drinks, fruit juice or water. The market for alcohol-free beverages—including beer, wine and spirits—has been buzzing of late.
嗜酒者和 "清醒好奇者 "不再局限于汽水、果汁或水。无酒精饮料（包括啤酒、葡萄酒和烈酒）市场近来热闹非凡。
Global sales came to $20bn in 2023, according to data from Euromonitor, a research firm, double the amount from five years before (see chart). The market grew by roughly 20% in 2023, compared with 8% for alcoholic drinks. How big will it get?
根据研究公司 Euromonitor 的数据，2023 年全球销售额达到 200 亿美元，比五年前翻了一番（见图）。2023 年，该市场的增长率约为 20%，而酒精饮料的增长率仅为 8%。它的规模会有多大？

Demand for alcohol-free drinks is not limited to Dry January. A growing number of health-conscious youngsters are going sober all year round.
对无酒精饮料的需求不仅限于 "干燥一月"。越来越多注重健康的年轻人开始全年戒酒。
The share of Americans aged 18-34 who drink alcohol has dropped to 62%, according to the latest figures from Gallup, a pollster, compared with 72% two decades earlier. Many who do booze are having fewer drinks.
根据民意调查机构盖洛普（Gallup）的最新数据，18-34 岁美国人中饮酒的比例已降至 62%，而二十年前这一比例为 72%。许多喝酒的人喝得更少。
“Zebra-striping”, or alternating between alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks, is in vogue. More people may join the sober trend if America’s surgeon-general gets his way. On January 3rd he called for alcoholic drinks to come with a label warning of their health risks.
"斑马纹"，即交替饮用含酒精和不含酒精的饮料，正在流行。如果美国外科医生的意见得到采纳，可能会有更多的人加入清醒的潮流。1 月 3 日，他呼吁在含酒精饮料上贴上警告健康风险的标签。

In response to all this, booze giants have been developing alcohol-free lines. Diageo, one of the biggest, spent two years experimenting with 400 different recipes for an alcohol-free version of its Captain Morgan Spiced Gold rum.
为此，各大酒业巨头纷纷开发无酒精产品系列。最大的酒商之一帝亚吉欧花了两年时间，尝试了 400 种不同的配方，终于推出了不含酒精的摩根船长五香金朗姆酒（Captain Morgan Spiced Gold rum）。
It recently bought Ritual, a non-alcoholic drinks brand. LVMH, owner of Moët & Chandon champagne, has invested in French Bloom, a brand of alcohol-free sparkling wines.
酩悦香槟（Moët & Chandon）的所有者 lvmh 投资了无酒精起泡葡萄酒品牌 French Bloom。

Nadine Sarwat of Bernstein, a broker, reckons that drinks firms are not cannibalising their sales by making alcohol-free products. More than 94% of Americans who buy alcohol-free alternatives still buy alcoholic drinks, too, according to Nielsen, a data company.
经纪商伯恩斯坦公司的纳丁-萨尔瓦特认为，饮料公司生产无酒精产品并不会蚕食其销售额。据数据公司尼尔森（Nielsen）称，在购买无酒精替代品的美国人中，有 94% 以上的人仍在购买含酒精饮料。
Some consumers see zero-alcohol alternatives as a substitute for fizzy drinks, rather than booze. The drinks also tend to be more profitable than alcoholic ones, as they are priced only a little lower but are taxed more lightly.
一些消费者将零酒精饮料视为汽水而非烈酒的替代品。这种饮料也往往比含酒精饮料更有利可图，因为它们的价格只是稍低一些，但税收却更轻。

Still, making alcohol-free drinks that taste like the original is not easy. The beer industry, which began producing alcohol-free products in the 1970s, is furthest along in this.
然而，要生产出口感与原味相同的无酒精饮料并非易事。20 世纪 70 年代开始生产无酒精产品的啤酒行业在这方面走得最远。
That is partly why beer makes up 89% of sales of non-alcoholic drinks, with wine and spirits accounting for just 7% and 4%, respectively, according to Bernstein.
伯恩斯坦称，这也是啤酒占非酒精饮料销售额 89% 的部分原因，而葡萄酒和烈酒分别只占 7% 和 4%。
Rather than heating beer to evaporate the alcohol, which ruins the flavour, producers have come up with various alternative brewing techniques, many of which are closely guarded secrets.
啤酒酿造者不需要加热啤酒来蒸发酒精，因为酒精会破坏啤酒的风味，他们想出了各种替代酿造技术，其中许多都是严守的秘密。
Athletic Brewing, a popular brand in America, is trying to patent parts of its production process.
美国著名品牌 Athletic Brewing 正试图为其部分生产工艺申请专利。

The race is now on to develop methods for alcohol-free wine. Although there are ways to remove alcohol from wine, including reverse osmosis, which involves filtration, and spinning-cone technology, which uses centrifugal force, these often ruin the taste, too.
现在，人们正在竞相开发无酒精葡萄酒的方法。虽然有一些方法可以去除葡萄酒中的酒精，包括涉及过滤的反渗透技术和利用离心力的旋锥技术，但这些方法往往也会破坏葡萄酒的口感。
Wine relies on alcohol for much of its flavour and mouthfeel. “We are 20 years behind beer,” says Moritz Zyrewitz, founder of The Gentle Wine, a German low- and no-alcohol brand.
葡萄酒的风味和口感主要依赖酒精。"德国低酒精和无酒精葡萄酒品牌 The Gentle Wine 的创始人 Moritz Zyrewitz 说："我们比啤酒落后 20 年。

There are other challenges to further expanding the alcohol-free-drinks business. Some consumers balk at the price of products. Alcohol-free aperitifs, which are mostly a mixture of spices and botanicals, can sell for around $40 a bottle.
进一步扩大无酒精饮料业务还面临其他挑战。一些消费者对产品价格望而却步。无酒精开胃酒大多是香料和植物药的混合物，每瓶售价约为 40 美元。
In a recent survey of Americans by The New Consumer, a website, and Coefficient Capital, an investment firm, 38% of respondents said that non-alcoholic drinks should cost “a lot less” than alcoholic ones.
网站 "新消费者 "和投资公司 "系数资本"（Coefficient Capital）最近对美国人进行了一项调查，38%的受访者表示，无酒精饮料的价格应比含酒精饮料 "低很多"。

Brands are doing what they can to lift the appeal of alcohol-free alternatives. Corona Cero, produced by AB InBev, another drinks giant, was an official sponsor of last year’s Olympic Games; Heineken 0.0% sponsors Formula One. Lucky Saint, another alcohol-free beer brand, opened its own pub in central London, which serves both alcoholic and non-alcoholic brews.
各品牌正竭尽全力提升无酒精替代品的吸引力。另一家饮料巨头 ab InBev 生产的 Corona Cero 是去年奥运会的官方赞助商；喜力 0.0% 则赞助了一级方程式赛车。另一个无酒精啤酒品牌 Lucky Saint 在伦敦市中心开设了自己的酒吧，同时供应含酒精和不含酒精的啤酒。
Celebrity booze startups that offer non-alcoholic alternatives may also help convert drinkers. Blake Lively, an actress, Katy Perry, a singer, and Lewis Hamilton, a Formula One driver, have all launched brands in the past few years that offer alcohol-free drinks.
提供不含酒精替代品的明星酒类初创公司也可能有助于转化饮酒者。女演员布莱克-莱弗利（Blake Lively）、歌手凯蒂-佩里（Katy Perry）和一级方程式赛车手刘易斯-汉密尔顿（Lewis Hamilton）在过去几年中都推出了提供无酒精饮料的品牌。

For now, alcohol sales, which reached $1.8trn globally in 2023, are hardly slumping. Spending in many developing economies continues to rise along with incomes.
就目前而言，2023 年全球酒类销售额将达到 180 亿美元，几乎没有下滑的趋势。许多发展中经济体的消费随着收入的增加而持续增长。
And the overall share of Americans who drink alcohol has remained steady at around 60% over the past two decades, according to Gallup. More intemperate older consumers are making up for the sobriety of youngsters.
根据盖洛普公司的数据，在过去二十年里，美国人饮酒的总体比例一直稳定在 60% 左右。年长消费者的更多无节制正在弥补年轻人的清醒。
Retail sales at beer, wine and liquor stores in America continue to climb steadily. Plenty of consumers will celebrate the end of Dry January with a full-strength tipple. ■
美国啤酒、葡萄酒和烈酒商店的零售额继续稳步攀升。许多消费者将以烈性酒来庆祝 "干燥一月 "的结束。■

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