While Santé Publique France launched its new alcohol information campaign on 26 March 2019 — "maximum 2 glasses a day, and not every day" — Gueule de Joie provides a response to the fact that "drinking less is always better".
We distribute drinks of a new kind and offer for sale a selection of "alcohol-free" wines, beers and cocktails. Drinks that have flavour and adopt the same consumption codes, without the harmful effects. We want to satisfy consumers' desire for "moderation" alternatives, in a promising market segment.
Our modern, uninhibited approach aims to provide a solution for people who do not want (or cannot) drink alcohol, whether occasionally or long-term; with no compromise on pleasure, conviviality, quality or wellbeing. These drinks contain up to seven times less sugar.
Until 30 April, this new generation of alcohol-free drinks is available for pre-order on Ulule.
Drinking less is always better
Every French person has good reasons to opt for moderate alcohol consumption. Beyond safety and health, many consumers such as athletes, pregnant women, people who are unwell, those with religious convictions or simply people who do not enjoy alcohol have "zero alcohol" expectations.
But also younger audiences, populations open to innovation, less knowledgeable and with a more modern vision of their consumption!
But in that case, what do we drink?
In France, even as habits change, the person who doesn't drink is still the one who is stigmatised. Stigmatised by those around them who don't always understand their choice. And stigmatised by an offering that boils down to water, fizzy drinks and juices in particular. When you consider how deeply cultural alcohol is, it isn't always easy to be satisfied with those options when raising a glass at aperitif time, accompanying a good meal, let alone during festive occasions.
We're not responsible for the face we're born with, but we are for the one we put on!
In this alcohol-free market, Gueule de Joie aims to represent a new category of drinks and offer a different and unique experience.
To meet demand and engage consumers towards a new way of drinking, we spent 1 year prospecting and testing drinks from across Europe. This learning phase revealed an unsuspected world of quality alcohol-free wines, beers and cocktails.
Drinks produced by traditional and reputable breweries, committed wine professionals and manufacturers who are passionate about the product rather than intoxication.
Building on this expertise, Gueule de Joie is now offering for pre-order on Ulule a selection of 4 beers, 3 wines and 4 "alcohol-free" cocktails.
Particular attention is paid to the quality of the drinks selected, and the company capitalises on structuring, aroma-rich raw materials. The manufacturing processes respect traditions and are developed within a culture of responsible and demanding innovation.
Choosing crowdfunding as a development lever
To launch our business, we chose crowdfunding in order to:
- Give visibility to its concept and grow its community
- Test customer interest and the viability of the project
- Finance its first stock
- Allow as many people as possible to discover its drinks in return
The early signs are very encouraging. Within two weeks, Gueule de Joie already has nearly 100 contributors, with pre-order amounts exceeding €4,000. The crowdfunding campaign is open until 30 April.
Market
The evolution of beverage consumption habits and the growing preference for low-alcohol drinks are a key factor of opportunity. Raising greater consumer awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol, combined with the evolution towards healthier lifestyles, should stimulate the growth of this market.
A market for alcohol-free wines, beers and cocktails which, while still niche in France, already benefits from strong double-digit growth, above the market average.
Alcohol-free beers, even though they represent barely 2.4% of the total beer market in France compared with 10% in Germany or Spain, experienced spectacular growth of more than 25% in 2018, meaning more than 1 in 4 French people bought an alcohol-free beer in 2018 (source: IRI – total GMS 2018). The major brewing groups even estimate that 20% of their beer production will be alcohol-free by 2025.
The same trend can be seen with cocktails, where the free-spirit (alcohol-free cocktails) is no longer a punishment. Reinvented, the alcohol-free cocktail is no longer that approximate mix of juices. On the contrary, it calls into question the skill and imagination of its mixologist creator. It was, in fact, the star of the Paris Cocktail Week 2019.
As for alcohol-free wines, for around ten years producers have been offering genuine alternatives to traditional wine. The range is diversifying rapidly and winning over many consumers. With growth of 5% each year, alcohol-free sparkling wines are increasingly positioning themselves as serious contenders in this market.
The benefits of moderate alcohol consumption
The Gueule de Joie project is societal and focuses less on emphasising health risks (cancer, heart attack…) than on the benefits everyone would gain from drinking less alcohol, such as losing weight, sleeping better at night, being more focused, gaining energy…
A trend amplified by the growing success of the "Dry January" campaign, which encourages people not to drink a drop of alcohol for a month after the excesses of the festive season.
The healthy trend is making its mark in the drinks sector
The rise of alcohol-free goes hand in hand with a deep-seated trend, observed over the past few years, around wellbeing and healthy food. Today more than ever, people take care of themselves and their bodies, and try to lead a healthier life. However, excessive alcohol consumption runs counter to this desire.
Towards a reduction in alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption has halved over 50 years. It fell from an average of 26.0 litres of pure alcohol per capita among those aged 15 and over in 1961 to 11.7 litres in 2017 (the decrease being almost exclusively due to the fall in wine consumption, particularly at the dinner table). Over the same period, the share of alcohol-free products in French households' food budgets soared by +400%, reaching a turnover of over 10 billion euros.
A public health issue
It is worth noting, however, that despite this decrease, the consumption of alcoholic beverages remains deeply embedded in French cultural practices:
- 5 million people drink every day.
- 9 million drink at least 3 times a week.
- France ranks 8th in the world among the heaviest drinkers.
- On average, each French person drinks 2.7 glasses per day.
- 41,000 deaths due to alcohol every year in France
Alcohol is the second leading cause of preventable death after tobacco, accounting for 7% of the total number of deaths among people aged at least 15 in 2015, according to Santé publique France, which published its latest weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH) on 19 February 2019.
