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Brewdog Distilling MD: Low-alcohol sector ‘underserved’

While the non-alcoholic ‘spirits’ category has rapidly expanded, the low-ABV sector has been “underserved” and needs more brands with purpose, according to Brewdog Distilling’s managing director.

David Gates, Brewdog Distilling managing director

At the launch of Brewdog Distilling’s latest innovation, Inugami Shochu, in London yesterday (3 March), Brewdog Distilling MD David Gates said the growth of the non-alcoholic ‘spirits’ category “has been extraordinary”.

However, he noted a gap in the number of low-alcohol brands offering a similar level of diversity.

“I really do think ‘low’ has been underserved until now,” Gates said. “I think it’s fascinating. The rise today of non-alcoholic ‘spirits’ has been extraordinary.

“With Ben Branson, when he created Seedlip, there was always purpose to what he was doing; he was driven by that, and I think when people are driven by a cause they are more likely to be successful rather than when that cause is to make money.

“A lot of people seem to have gone ‘there’s money to be made, I am going to create something and sell [it] to big companies’. There are a few decent products that have followed Seedlip, but a lot of what’s coming out does seem to be driven by money.

“But I haven’t seen the same level of products catering to the low-alcohol category actually. What we hope is that Inugami will fill that gap in the market, as it’s low-strength, and it tastes great in a Highball, which seem to be getting more popular. We hope it’ll create a new option for those who are looking to drink less alcohol.

“At Brewdog, we’ve always wanted to create products we love because we think if we love them and are passionate about them, it’s much easier to get other people excited as well. That’s always at the core of what we’re trying to do.”

‘Big fat niches’

Shochu is typically made in Japan using base ingredients such as sweet potato, rice or wheat, to name a few. The spirit is widely consumed in Japan, but is relatively unknown to consumers outside of its homeland.

Brewdog Distilling hopes to educate western consumers with the launch of its Scottish version of shochu, Inugami, which means ‘spirit of the dog’.

“I would call it one of the things we have always looked for – big fat niches,” Gates said. “Right now, [shochu is] small and not very well known. But if you think about when Brewdog first started doing IPAs, it didn’t have anything like the following it has today.

“We have got 130,000 people who have invested in our company; we have got a small group of hyper-invested people, business people and people who are more passively invested. But actually, if we get this right, their interest will take it to a broad audience.

“In a few years’ time, if I saw people consuming Inugami in the way they consume Aperol today that would be our dream.”

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