opinion piece for USA Today Network<\/a>, Andy Keenan, executive vice president and general manager at Advantage Solutions, suggests that a growing number of legal-age consumers intend to keep that \u201cdry\u201d part going \u2014 perhaps forever.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch ink has been spilled in recent years about a shift, particularly among younger drinkers, away from alcohol,\u201d says Keenan. \u201cSome dubbed this group \u2018sober curious.\u2019 Today, we may as well brand them sober loyalists \u2014 and their numbers are growing.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why Retailers Are Watching the Sober-Curious Trend<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
From "Dry January" to Lifestyle Shift<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Some 21% of U.S. adults reported they were practicing reduced alcohol consumption for Dry January this year \u2014 the highest level recorded since polling began in 2021, and up 6 percentage points from 2023, according to a January survey conducted by Morning Consult Pro. So for many, the Super Bowl \u2014 followed closely by Valentine\u2019s Day \u2014 represents the first real social test of the year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While data show the majority of drinkers will still reach for a beer during the Super Bowl or a glass of bubbly while at a Galentine\u2019s Day gathering, an increasing number are choosing to abstain \u2014 if not altogether, then at least by consuming less. Plus, as social acceptance of the movement takes hold, non-drinkers are celebrating sober \u2014 and without judgment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI see this trend first-hand every day in conversations with retailers around the country,\u201d says Keenan. \u201cRetailers pride themselves on being at the forefront of consumer trends and are committed to meeting new and fast-moving customer demands. With our industry experience and expertise, they rely on us and our front-row seat on this changing retail landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until the pandemic in the U.S. that the NA industry really kick started, Keenan points out, led by a trend among suddenly house-bound shoppers who were focusing more on their health and wellness.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The market quickly followed, and mocktails and other NA options started popping up everywhere from high-end cocktail bars to a grocer\u2019s aisles, packaged in eye-catching, cleverly branded cans. More appealing options in turn led to more interest among consumers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gen Z\u2019s Role in Reshaping Consumption<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Generational shifts have also played a part in this trend. Studies show that younger consumers witnessed the effects of alcoholism on older members of their family and take steps to avoid that. They want to stay level-headed and in control of their social image. They have also flocked to so-called functional beverages and other products to moderate their moods, including cannabis.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The result is a migration away from alcohol in staggering numbers. One stat stands out here: College students refraining from alcohol increased to 28% in 2018 from just 20% in 2002, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What This Means for Retailers<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
But fear not, alcohol beverage industry. \u201cAlcohol is not, by any measure, on the way out,\u201d Keenan says. \u201cThe NA beer and mocktail market is still a fraction compared to the alcohol-beverage market. Come Super Bowl and Valentine\u2019s Day, plenty of Americans will be cracking a couple of traditional beers, a glass of wine or a full-strength cocktail.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And those Dry January participants? \u201cCount them among those raising a toast,\u201d he adds. \u201cNationally, 18% of Dry January participants admitted to drinking more alcohol in February to compensate.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read the article here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andy Keenan on the Rise of Sober Loyalty: A Shift Away from Alcohol in 2024 With Dry January over and Super Bowl Sunday on the horizon, drinking-age Americans will be put to the test again: To beer or not to beer? Retailer insights show consumers are changing what\u2019s in their cups\u2014and why. In an opinion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2130,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"mrktblog-category":[41],"class_list":["post-2131","mrktblog-posts","type-mrktblog-posts","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mrktblog-category-advantage-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Sober Curious & Super Bowl: Retailer Trends to Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan shares insights on the sober-curious trend and how retailers are adapting to shifting preferences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sober Curious & Super Bowl: Retailer Trends to Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan shares insights on the sober-curious trend and how retailers are adapting to shifting preferences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advantage Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2116\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1416\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/mrktblog\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/\",\"url\":\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/\",\"name\":\"Sober Curious & Super Bowl: Retailer Trends to Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-08T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan shares insights on the sober-curious trend and how retailers are adapting to shifting preferences.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg\",\"width\":2116,\"height\":1416},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan: This Super Bowl, Pass me a Cold (Non-Alcoholic) Beer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/\",\"name\":\"Advantage Solutions\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advantage Solutions\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/advantagelogo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/advantagelogo.svg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"Advantage Solutions\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sober Curious & Super Bowl: Retailer Trends to Watch","description":"As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan shares insights on the sober-curious trend and how retailers are adapting to shifting preferences.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sober Curious & Super Bowl: Retailer Trends to Watch","og_description":"As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan shares insights on the sober-curious trend and how retailers are adapting to shifting preferences.","og_url":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/","og_site_name":"Advantage Solutions","og_image":[{"width":2116,"height":1416,"url":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/mrktblog\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/","url":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/","name":"Sober Curious & Super Bowl: Retailer Trends to Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-08T00:00:00+00:00","description":"As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan shares insights on the sober-curious trend and how retailers are adapting to shifting preferences.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Beer-cooler-2.jpg","width":2116,"height":1416},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"\/advantage-news\/advantages-andy-keenan-this-super-bowl-pass-me-a-cold-non-alcoholic-beer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Advantage Solutions Andy Keenan: This Super Bowl, Pass me a Cold (Non-Alcoholic) Beer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/","name":"Advantage Solutions","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#organization","name":"Advantage Solutions","url":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/advantagelogo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/advantagelogo.svg","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"Advantage Solutions"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mrktblog-posts\/2131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mrktblog-posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/mrktblog-posts"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mrktblog-posts\/2131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"mrktblog-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youradv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mrktblog-category?post=2131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}