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Why one drinks brand has shifted from non-alcoholic to alcohol-free
No- and low- spirits brand CleanCo has reduced the ABV of its range from 0.4% down to 0.0%, a move which the company claims marks a “natural progression”.
CleanCo, which produces drinks including Clean G (a gin substitute) and Clean T (which takes the place of Tequila), has announced that the alcohol content of its entire range 0.4% ABV (officially non-alcoholic) to 0.0% ABV (officially alcohol-free).
“It really felt like the natural progression for CleanCo,” global CMO Sophie Brisbourne-Rhodes told the drinks business. “Whilst the previous range was 0.4% ABV and therefore officially ‘non-alcoholic’, it was a tricky concept to get your head around as a consumer trying to navigate a new category. It’s non-alcoholic so why is there some alcohol, even if it’s a small amount? 0.0% ABV leaves no question marks. It also allows us to meet the needs of those abstaining from alcohol completely for health, personal or religious reasons, living up to our values of being an inclusive brand.”
Asked whether the drinks were at 0.4% ABV due to technological limitations, Brisbourne-Rhodes said: “Yes and no.”
“In everything we do flavour remains king, and we were adamant that we only wanted to move to 0.0% ABV when we felt the liquid was just as good, if not better than our current award-winning range,” she explained.
“Previously our drinks used a very small amount of alcohol distillate to achieve the replication of the complex flavours you find in full-strength spirits, as well as the characteristic alcoholic mouthfeel. But after over two years of work on the liquid development, advancements in technology and improved extraction methods, we are now able to capture a better depth of flavour from natural extracts, whilst reducing the ABV to 0.0%.”
The drinks aren’t de-alcoholised, as is the case with some no- and low-ABV brands, with Brisbourne-Rhodes referring to a “specific distillation process” and “natural flavour combinations” that can “replicate the taste of classic spirits”, without any ethanol.
As of 2023, according to CleanCo, which was founded in 2019 by Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, a ‘Clean Cocktail’ was sold every eight seconds across the globe. The company arrived in the US in 2021, thanks in part to a deal with Southern Glazer’s.
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