From Champagne flutes to zero-proof pours--let's take a look at the burgeoning alcohol-free market. Melanie Masarin is the Founder and CEO of Ghia a non-alcoholic aperitif maker, and she joined Bloomberg TV and Radio to talk about the booze-free boom.

The no and low alcohol beverage market is projected to reach $18–20 billion globally by 2025, with North America identified as the fastest-growing region. This growth is attributed to shifting consumer preferences, as more people seek to moderate alcohol consumption for health and wellness reasons. 

Gia, a brand offering non-alcoholic Amaro-style drinks, reports that 90% of its customers are traditional alcohol drinkers looking to cut back. The company has expanded its presence in both retail and hospitality sectors, recently launching new flavors and increasing availability through major retailers and online platforms.

The rise of zero-proof drinks

How unusual am I as a case study in someone who drank. I mean I drank for the team for most of my life. But just recently got on a streak that I you know don't really feel like I need to stop. And so I'm happy to have Gia instead of Vof Clicquot. Well thank you so much for having me. And thank you for the kind words. It makes me so happy to hear that you discovered this in a restaurant. This is exactly the way that we want to introduce the product you know through the culinary world so that it doesn't feel like you're missing out on that social interaction. But you're definitely not alone. People are drinking less. I think across generation people are wanting to sleep sleep more sleep better. People are wanting to live longer and better lives. And in general there's just like a million different reasons to sort of cut down on alcohol. The research you know is there. We can't really say that a glass of red per day is good for you anymore. And so you're definitely not alone. So Melanie the no and low alcohol beverage market is valued at 18 to 20 billion dollars globally in 2025. I had no idea. With North America as the fastest growing region. What's your market research telling you. What are your customers telling you here. I mean it's it's absolutely crazy. And you know like I said I think that there's just so much research now that basically explains that there's no amount of alcohol that's good for you. And people are so focused on wellness that there's a million different reasons to kind of try these drinks. Now it's interesting because he is customer. If you layer it with the market data he is customer is 90 percent of them are drinkers alcohol drinkers that are looking for moderation. And so I think that we're you know people are just trying to drink fewer alcoholic drinks that are better and then just feel better outside of that. You know a lot of people who have given up drinking in the past few years have done so because they can easily switch to THC. You take a gummy you hit a vape and you go to the party and have just as much fun. Then maybe you're looking for a GIA instead of a seltzer. Do you do you actively market to that crowd to the weed crowd because they are more likely to reach for one of your beverages. You know not really. There's this really popular trend right now called zebra striping which is basically alternating either something that has will give you a physical effect like alcohol or THC and then something that doesn't just to sort of moderate your consumption but still you know have a fun night or a night with effect. And so that's definitely something that we use in our messaging. But outside of that I think that THC is still quite controversial and people honestly don't need me to figure it out. If they're already exploring outside of the alcohol world it's like we're pretty easy to find. So in general we try to have a broader message. Melanie can you talk to us about just the product. Yeah. That Matt liked so much. Tell us about that. Makes me so happy. So you know I'm French and Italian and this is a very classic Amaro. So if you think of a Campari or an apple spritz I would sort of be their distant cousin 100 percent natural made with only pure juices and extracts. It has no added sugar. It's a very satisfyingly bitter. It sort of gives you that signature dryness. That's really hard to recreate when you don't have alcohol when you don't have the tenants of a wine. And so you know the Negroni lovers will love it. But it's it's definitely much better for you. And we have a concentrate and we have spritzes. And you know we're now pretty widely available because we just launched at Whole Foods really. Harry's Teeter a lot of retailers. So we're super excited for the growth that will hopefully come out of dry January this year. How do you get to. I mean obviously being in Whole Foods or you know one of these high end grocery stores I'm sure is very helpful to your brand. But you do want to get to Samuel Yates right. You do want to get into the kind of luxury restaurants where Paul has dinner every night. How do you how do you woo that crowd. You know it's very difficult. And we are in over a thousand menus in America right now. And that's one of my you know prides and joy. And it was also one of the hardest things for us to do. It's a lot of relationship building. It's a lot of sampling people that maybe today are more open to it because I think the supply has sort of driven the demand for these drinks. But five years ago didn't you know we're not interested in hearing about us at all. So it's it takes time. I think so. It's interesting. So what's kind of the next step here. Melanie for your company and the growth of your company. Well we just launched a new blood orange flavor which we believe is going to be our number one flavor. It's very approachable very easy to understand. But it still has this sort of signature dryness and still it's core to all of our you know 100 percent natural commitment. And that product is launching at Whole Foods in January specifically for dry January. So we're really really excited. That's what I had actually. Yeah. The blood orange. You did. Yes. Good. And yeah. Absolutely. OK. Delicious. What about the online sales. I mean when I think of you know Paul wanting to get hold of this stuff I don't know how likely he is to go into Whole Foods but he might look for it online. How much of your sales do you do there versus brick and mortar shops. You know still still 20 something percent and another 20 something percent on Amazon. People love the fast shipping that comes with Amazon. And because we launched in 2020 in Covid when people could only find us online I think we still have a pretty strong subscriber base that likes to order on the Internet. So drink.com is where you can find us. But also on Amazon.

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