Dry January sees low alcohol drinks boom continue

Sales of alcohol-free drinks have soared during the so-called Dry January period, landlords and brewers have said.

Tim Flynn, owner of the New Oxford Inn in Salford, said "more people than ever" were now choosing alcohol-free or low-alcohol drinks, estimating demand for them had risen “by 1,000%”.

Industry experts said the hospitality sector needed to adapt because "time and trends were changing".

Official statistics recently revealed that the number of alcohol-related deaths in England were at a "record high".

Mr Flynn said the annual Dry January challenge - in which participants try to take a month off alcohol after the festive period - had resulted in him significantly changing his business in recent years.

He added: "We now stock around nine, 10 different non-alcoholic beers but years ago we used to only stock two."

"[Sales] would be up maybe 1,000%. You may have sold a case a week 10 to 15 years ago. Now you're selling 35 to 40 cases a week."

Stockport brewery Robinsons said it had seen "staggering" growth in low- and no-alcohol products - about 57% across all of its pubs.

Dr Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK, said: "More of us are connecting the dots between the alcohol we drink and the impact it has on our health, wellbeing and quality of life.

"From poor sleep, headaches and hangovers, to spending more money than we'd like or struggling to work, our research provides a strong picture of the reasons why so many of us are ready to rethink our relationship with alcohol."