One product is flying off shelves in Denmark « Euro Weekly News

Just as quickly as supermarket shelves are being filled with them, they are emptying into supermarket trolleys. They are increasingly being served at music festivals, and factories are struggling to keep up with demand.

No longer the reserve of designated drivers and the pregnant, these days, the thirst of all of Denmark is being quenched without percentages. According to the newspaper Danmark, the Danish Breweries Association released fresh figures recently, showing a significant increase in sales of non-alcoholic beer. In 2024, over nine million litres were sold, which is an increase of 8.7 per cent compared to the previous year. Looking back ten years, total sales have grown almost fivefold.

But this is not only happening in Denmark and is reflected in similar trends around the world. According to a report from the research house IWSR, global sales of non-alcoholic beer grew by nine per cent in 2024, and this development looks set to continue for several years to come. More Danes are choosing beer without a hangover, and this has also changed the selection considerably. Last year, Danish consumers could choose between 68 different varieties. Today, there are over 100 different varieties.

The explanation for the alcohol-free success is found, among other things, in the technological brewery equipment and new methods in the process, explains Louis Illum Honoré, the Danish Breweries Association’s communications manager. ‘Non-alcoholic beer is still relatively new, and there are always new technologies and new yeast strains that can be used. Brewers have become better at brewing beer that tastes good. It wasn’t like this ten years ago, and there is a lot of demand.’

Initially, it was mainly men over 35 in the larger cities who developed a taste for the abstemious beer. But the consumer scene is changing, and the younger generations are starting to get in to it too.