Non-alcoholic spirits have made it into the mainstream, being sold everywhere from bars to local supermarkets. Perth venues, like the Victoria Park Hotel are serving cocktails containing non-alcoholic spirits, such as the ‘Pornstar NOtini’, costing $16.

It’s not shocking that these drinks have increased in popularity — producers such as Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits have celebrated their growth on and success on the global stage. The ISWR, a London-based market analysis company, said that 31 per cent of Australians had purchased no or low-alcohol products in 2022. Globally, the ISWR estimated the no and low-alcohol category value had surpassed $11 billion in the same year. 

The Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation — a charity that promotes minimising alcohol and drug harm — defined zero-alcohol drinks as a beverage containing less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. Zero-alcohol drinks were made by both established alcohol brands, like Heineken’s non-alcoholic beer, and by more boutique distillers. 

Retailers have listed some 700mL bottles of non-alcoholic gins for more than $A50 — the same price as many alcoholic gins. Free Spirit Drink Co., a retail outlet specialising in non-alcoholic beverages, stocks a ‘gin-style’ substitute for $54.95.

Free Spirit Drink Co. owner Adrian Allier said the expense, despite there being no excise tax, came from other things: “In a lot of cases the stuff that you’re putting in, like the ashwagandha and the nootropics, they’re expensive. They’re not cheap to produce.”

Mr Allier said these drinks provided an alternative to alcohol without the poison — a welcome change to the negative effects of alcohol.

“There’s not really any age group, it’s across the board. People that just want to cut back or, for whatever reason, just want to drink less.”

According to a report released by the ABS in December 2023, more than one in four adults exceeded the Australian Alcohol guideline set out by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The AIHW guidelines recommend drinking less than 10 standard drinks a week, or four a day, to reduce harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.

Although non-alcoholic spirits are the healthier alternative, they have also raised concerns among experts and advocacy groups.

Dr Stephen Bright, senior lecturer in addiction studies at ECU, said that while non-alcoholic spirits could be a harm-reduction strategy for adults, there was concern about the message they sent for underage consumers.

“If kids are being exposed to a lot of these brands, then it means they’re essentially trying to cultivate new customers once they’re of age.”

These concerns were also held by the ADF. Because non-alcoholic spirits often mimicked alcohol, non-alcoholic spirits could normalise drinking for children and teens, the ADF stated in a report from 2023.

In a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission, FARE called for government action and regulation of non-alcoholic beverages. Dr Bright said policy needed to be driven by research, and wasn’t always effective.

 “One of the problems that we have in this space, is oftentimes, there’s good intention behind policy changes, but they actually have an outcome that is the opposite of their intention.”