Alex Jump is a veteran beverage professional and co-founder of Focus on Health, a wellness advocacy group for hospitality workers. She recently led the group’s third annual No/Low Tour, bringing no- and low-ABV cocktails to six cities across the U.S. The tour aims to educate the trade and show that low-proof and nonalcoholic drinks can be just as fun, dynamic, and sophisticated as anything full-proof.
Focus on Health was created to help people who work in hospitality take care of themselves and their communities, with programming around personal well-being, mentorship, and community health. The No/Low Tour is one of its core programs. “It came out of a desire from members of our team who don’t consume alcohol or not a lot of alcohol and who go to events where brands put up so much money but forget there’s a whole segment of our industry that doesn’t drink,” Jump says. “There’s no reason why we as an industry shouldn’t be putting as much time and consideration into non-alc offerings as alc offerings.”
Granted, although “the quality of products has really risen, we still have a long way to go,” she acknowledges. “The challenge is in analog products sparking a comparison. There’s a lot of science to be developed to get there. What’s doing best right now in terms of quality are the amaro and aperitif categories.” Of course, “there are some who don’t want an analog non-alc product for whatever reason, and then there are people who don’t want an esoteric non-alc,” she adds. “There’s room for everything; people are excited to have options.”
They just need to know what those options are. Jump says that while bars and restaurants have figured out nonalcoholic cocktails, low-alcohol drinks remain a mystery, even though 78% of those who purchase NA beverages still drink alcohol. According to data from Innova Market Insights, low-ABV cocktails can bring up to 800% ROI, yet the hospitality industry remains slow to adopt them. Some of the concerns include how to charge for something that’s half-proof versus full-proof and what counts as “low” alcohol.
When Jump is educating bartenders, she tells them it’s best to have something already on the menu rather than just asking guests what flavor profile they like and making something up on the fly. One product she’s excited about is Ola Sol, a low-ABV tequila alternative categorized as an agave wine that’s legal for use in venues with beer and wine licenses.
As for zero-proof recommendations, she says, “RTD non-alc products are a great option for people, especially if they run a casual bar program or dive bar or sports bar where they’re not making cocktails anyway. Those can be a great fit for [such] programs.” Another product she likes is Pentire, a line of nonalcoholic aperitifs that are made by distilling plants native to Cornwall, England, and intended to taste like the Cornish seaside. In short, she adds, “People are excited to have more tools in their toolbox to make a drink they couldn’t make before.”