Extra staff training could help hospitality boost alcohol-free sales

Olivia Ferdi, co-founder of CBD drinks brand Trip, told the summit that working with operators was "all part of that collaborative puzzle" to give consumers a wider option for drinks.

The summit followed research by KAM Media which surveyed 550 people on their drinking habits. Published last month, it found that one in three visits to pubs and two in five visits to restaurants do not include any consumption of alcohol, up from one in four and one in three in 2020 respectively.

In addition, 5.2m fewer adults are drinking weekly in 2023, compared to 2021.

However, despite growth in the no and low-alcohol sector and the revenue opportunities it could afford operators, KAM's strategy and insight director, Blake Gladman, said that one in four people default to tap water in venues if they are not drinking alcohol. This could lead to businesses missing out on a potential £800m worth of annual revenue, he added.

Gladman said operators could boost sales of alcohol-free drinks by displaying options more prominently on menus and expanding their range across non-alcoholic beers, wines and cocktails.

He added that staff training was vital to promote sales and encouraged operators to tell team members to mention alcohol-free alternatives when a customer asked for water and point out the low and no-alcohol options as they would a wine list.

The benefits of such changes have paid off at Hakkasan in Mayfair. Speaking at the summit, Simon Farrow, category director at Tao Hospitality Group, said his team at the central London restaurant spent nine months creating alcohol0free cocktail replicas. He said now one in eight cocktails sold at the outlet is alcohol-free.

Image: Shutterstock/JaviIndy