Sales of lower and non-alcoholic beverage rise in the province

Sales of lower alcoholic beverages rise as NLC release their Q3 performance.

Caeleigh Hiscock
Kicker

The Newfoundland Liquor Corporation has seen an increase in non- and low-alcoholic beverage sales as evidenced by its earnings for the third quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

On March 3, NLC reported net earnings of $61.2 million for the third quarter, a $3.1 million increase from the Q3 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

For beverage alcohol, sales were up three per cent from the prior year, with ready-to-drink beverage sales increasing 16.4 per cent, wine 7.3 per cent and beer 1.9 per cent.

NLC has also seen an increase in lower- and non-alcoholic beverages this period – a trend that has been taking place more frequently every year.

Why such an increase?

Jeff Bird, a sales and distribution manager at Boomstick Brewing Co. located in Corner Brook, says the non-alcoholic market has been on the rise for years now.

“In general, we have been noticing a larger shift in consumption patterns between generations,” Bird said.

The rise in these numbers suggests an obvious rise in demand for beverages with lower alcohol content. Bird says that if these numbers continue to increase, the beverage industry and breweries alike will start to change the way they operate to appeal to the consumers of these products.

The beverage industry and breweries alike have been evolving for many years. As the industry continues to change, Bird says breweries will increasingly look at themselves as beverage companies rather than sticking to one product lane.

Boomstick Brewing Co. currently offers the only non-alcoholic beer made in the province – Electric Pale Ale, which is sold at a number of locations in St. John’s including at the brewery itself, grocery stores and bars. The company is pleased with the sale of this product so far and will continue to consider adding new non-alcoholic options to their catalog.

Craig Farewell of Banished Brewing Limited says the company launched its light beer – Banished Light -when it was given the opportunity to be the official beer of the 2025 Canada games.

“We had been wanting to put out a light lager for a while to compete with the macro brands, so when the opportunity arose to be the official beer of the Games, it was a no-brainer,” Farewell said.

Farewell says that Banished Brewing has noticed a trend of consumers wanting lower alcoholic products for a while now. So, when it launched its product, Banished Brewing was happy about the positive response it received.

“It’s what inspired our mocktail menu,” Farewell said. “We don’t have a cocktail menu. We can make the mocktails into cocktails, but the menu is tailored to non-alcoholic consumption.”

Banished Brewing does not currently offer a non-alcoholic beer, but it is working to get the right equipment to start offering it.

“It’ll happen,” said Farewell.