Since launching to market in October 2018, Heineken 0.0 has firmly established itself as the most popular alcohol-free beer among Australian consumers, a fact evidenced by its consistent upwards growth trajectory and by its impressive trophy cabinet. This includes having won all but one of the Fan Favourite Non-Alcoholic Beer awards since the Australian Drinks Awards added the category in 2021.
Despite losing to Great Northern Zero in last year’s awards, Heineken 0.0 has once again clinched the title of Australia’s most loved alcohol-free beer.
Drinks Trade reached out to Rachel Ellerm, Marketing Director at Lion Australia, to discuss what sets Heineken 0.0 apart from its competitors.
Drinks Trade: Heineken beat a lot of its competitors to the non-alc beer market… How important has this been to its success?
Rachel Ellerm: Heineken 0.0 was not the first non-alc beer to launch in Australia. A small non-alcohol beer segment, dominated by Coopers Ultra Light Birrell launched in the 80s, had existed for some years prior to Heineken 0.0’s launch in 2018. Having said that, launching Heineken 0.0 in Australia definitely injected energy and interest into the category, taking it to new heights.
Heineken 0.0’s success was driven by two things. One, it launched at a time where the trend towards moderation was growing and interest in more mindful drinks was high. Two, Heineken 0.0 offered a beer with signature taste and quality credentials bringing Heineken’s brewing credibility to the category. Put simply, it delivered on both a consumer need and it tasted great.
The team focused on trial as a key pillar, and still does today which, along with its great taste, has led to the growth of the category and of the brand to date.
DT: From Lion’s point of view, how has the non-alcoholic beer category been tracking?
RE: For Liquor, not including Grocery, the Alcohol-Free segment is up 2.7% volume growth in the MAT to June 24 and is the only Beer segment aside from Ginger Beer in volume growth.
Alcohol Free growth has slowed in the latest quarter, -2.7% vs year average, however Heineken 0.0 has grown plus 9.5% in the latest quarter against this declining backdrop.
DT: Heineken seems to have a lot of major consumer-facing activations; from James Bond, to Formula 1, to beer-pouring comps… Can you talk about their importance to the product’s ongoing success?
We aim to feature Heineken 0.0 in all our Heineken communications under an Always a choice strategy, reminding consumers we have a range of high-quality beers for all occasions.
Trial remains critical to this category and brand activity whether it be through featuring Heineken 0.0 at Formula 1 activation or throughout Dry July, our 0.0 activity is firmly focused on having as much liquid on lips as possible.
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