Anthea: Your Newest Sober-Curious Crush

Listen… we love wine. Shocker, right? Who’d have guessed. But life is about diversity! Twisting things up every now and then is something we love to do, so when Anthea came across our radar, our ordinarily-wine-trained ears perked up.

Anthea is a brand new non-alcoholic option to the New Zealand market, offering delicious and refreshing alternatives to wine and spirits. For a long time, those opting out of alcohol have been relegated to the kid’s soft drinks section of the drinks menu, destined to order ‘just a coke, thanks,’ eternally… but this era is over. Bring on the rise of Anthea: The grown-up, refined choice that’s anything but boring.

Anthea (or Antheia) was the ancient Greek goddess of human love, flowers and nature. She was known for her role in bringing beauty and abundance to earth through the blooming of flowers. She was worshipped with offerings of flowers during festivals and celebrations dedicated to her.

Anthea takes inspiration from this goddess and her affiliation with nature and connection. Hand-crafted, Anthea drinks utilise the power of natural botanicals to hand-craft satisfying, complex and refreshing beverages that are kind to the liver but hit the reward-centres in our brains hard.

So why do we like to drink? Let’s break it down…

Simple as that. When drinking – whatever your order may be – we pick it because it tastes good. A hint of flavour here, a touch of bitter to offset it there… it’s all about when you take that first sip and go “ugh, yum.” According to the NY Times, (and we wholeheartedly concur), “a great non-alcoholic drink has all of the elements of a great alcoholic one”. Taste is very subjective, but there are key components that make a drink feel balanced, namely a harmonious blend of acidity, sweetness, bitterness, salinity, and water.

Anthea recognizes that those choosing non-alcoholic options aren’t always doing so for the fact they prefer the taste of a soft drink over say, a nice pinot gris with their pasta. (No hate if that is your preference though!) They often do this because soft drinks or juice are the only choices for them, and many consumers would love an alternative that isn’t so… kiddy.

Anthea drinks are dry/off-dry. There’s sweetness to them, but it’s far and away not their defining trait and in fact they’re very low in sugar. They’re flavoursome and complex, but not syrupy and are immensely refreshing. They hit all the keywords you want in a refined, proper drink, but with none of the alcohol.

Many of us know that alcohol is often a normal part of our social interactions. “A box,” is fair tender for convincing friends to come over and give you a hand in the garden over the weekend and it’s almost unheard of to turn up to any dinner party without a bottle in hand (or at least our dinner parties…)

This normalisation can sometimes create an unwelcome pressure to drink. However, a lot of us want to reduce the amount we’re consuming or eliminate alcohol altogether. Deciding to ease back or eliminate alcohol is a very personal choice which we and Anthea understand and respect entirely. 

“The [sober-curious] movement pushes back at the normalization of heavy drinking and stereotypes that those who do not drink are less social or have less fun,” explains Sarah Sheppard in their article ‘What does it mean to be sober-curious?’

For anyone that’s ever experienced a hangover, you might know where we’re going here… 

For nights where you don’t over-indulge though, there’s definitely something supremely relaxing about opening a drink, sitting down and just settling down for the night. It’s an unwinder for many people, and it’s a valid and measured vice for many responsible adults… but there’s no sticking our heads in the sand here. It can, in the long term, increase stress and sometimes dependency.

But… the ritual aspect of this practice does some heavy-lifting here. There’s more to drinking than the liquid itself – the act of selecting the bottle, opening it, hearing the pop/crack/ping and the gluggy sound of the pour all activate those reward centres telling you ‘it’s nearly time!’ 

We’re creatures of habit, and Anthea recognizes all these factors play into your imbibing experience. No supermarket plastic-bottles here! The Blanc & Blush Spritz’ come in 750ml glass ‘wine’ bottles, and the on-the-go spritzes have the ultimate satisfying can-plunk noise to get that dopamine going before you even get to enjoy the deliciousness. And believe us, it’s coming.

The elephant in the room with alcohol is overwhelmingly its effect on our health. Touched on briefly above, it’s something we can’t stick our heads in the sand about and something that we take notice of as a distributor of many fine wines, spirits and craft beverages. We always like to encourage responsible alcohol consumption when you choose to drink, and for when you choose not to, we want to make sure that your choices are equally as appealing and not patronising. 

Anthea is not only non-alcoholic and delicious, but also;

• Low in sugar
• Low in calories
• Vegan-friendly
• Uses real botanicals including many with known health properties (eg. chamomile, goji, rosehip and lavender to name a few.)

“It’s a popular time to be sober. Interest in Dry January, a month when many forego drinking alcohol, has jumped 259% compared with the same period last year, according to an analysis by the food website Pantry & Larder.” Christina Campodonico wrote for The San Francisco Standard in 2023.

The Stats

(If you hated statistics class in school, you can skip this bit but let us data-heads enjoy some numbers and reports.)

Graziella Riant-Dalibard for Natural Origins starts off strong in her article, “According to the latest Fact.MR (1) report, “non-alcoholic spirits”, also known as 0.0, represent a market expected to reach $271 billion worldwide by 2033,” she explains, “The sector is very buoyant and has already seen its CAGR increase by 9.9% in four years to 2022, valued at $104.3 billion, the report states.”

Some people attribute the rise in popularity to the growing “sober-curious” movement, which tries to break the ‘norm’ of drinking not by shaming those who choose to drink but by welcoming anyone at any stage of their journey to celebrate it, whether they be ‘curious’ about cutting back or completely sober. The movement is all about not alienating those who switch it up and encouraging the personal choices involved… and it’s working. “The ‘sober curious’ movement is not just a fleeting trend. It’s a shift in the way people and generations are interacting with and thinking about alcohol use,” Nicole F. Roberts writes for Forbes Magazine, where she writes about global public health, behavioural science & innovation. “The percentage of college students aged 18 to 22 in the United States who stated that they refrained from drinking alcohol rose from 20% in 2002 to 28% in 2018.”

“It’s a popular time to be sober. Interest in Dry January, a month when many forego drinking alcohol, has jumped 259% compared with the same period last year, according to an analysis by the food website Pantry & Larder.” Christina Campodonico wrote for The San Francisco Standard in 2023.

The Market

It’s great to get the consumption trends from Stats NZ and the NZABC, but how is this reflected in the market? For both our on-and-off premise customers, you’ll be interested to know (and perhaps have experienced yourselves,) it’s definitely showing.

On-Premise

QT Auckland Food and Beverage Director Chad Mills spoke to Restaurant & Café NZ in July this year about the “Non-Alcoholic Resurgence.” Mills told them that having a decent non-alcoholic offering has become an expectation of his customers. “A simple soda or soft drink isn’t enough anymore,” said Mills.

Reflecting the public desire to enjoy non-alcoholic beverages not just at home but out and about are the number of lists being published by lifestyle publications. Media like Broadsheet, UrbanList, Stuff, and Denizen frequently publish pieces giving eager patrons tips on where they’ll find the best non-alcoholic options, highlighting those who’ve extended beyond the standard coke & juice choices many have come to expect. 

Our research has also taken us into forums where we can see what consumers are talking about – straight from the horse’s mouth. Internet hub, Reddit, has an active community sharing interest in all sorts of topics, including recommendations from peers around where they should be heading. Check out a few below if you feel like a social media dig, or to have a nosy as to whether your establishment gets any shoutouts:

• “Are there restaurants with non-alcoholic wines or can I only get Byo’s?” in r/auckland
• “Restaurants/bars with good non-alcoholic options?” in r/wellington
• “Non-alcoholic drinks at Bars” in r/wellington
• “0% Wine – Why do no bars stock it here?” in r/chch
• “Non-alcoholic wine & beer at any bars / restaurants in Welly?” in r/wellington

All of this to say – consumers are thirsty for more non-alcoholic options that are delicious, socially accepted and not condescending or boring. We believe Anthea offers a sophisticated and fun option for those sober-curious, completely sober, or just wanting something a smidge on the lighter side. 

Off-Premise

FMCG Business earlier this year broke down the Circana’s latest liquor report, which pulls together grocery store sales and combines these with national statistics on liquor store sales, alcohol production and consumer survey data to build a comprehensive view of liquor trends and consumer behaviours. “Alcohol consumption in New Zealand is declining… it raises some important questions.”

“One explanation comes from the grocery market. According to Circana’s grocery market data, total alcohol sales have fallen 1.8% in volume in the past year. Once the second highest performing department, Alcohol has been relegated to fifth place – behind non-alcoholic beverages.”

The last few years has also seen the first Alcohol-Free Bottle Shops, dedicated entirely to providing 0% alternatives to the sober-curious consumers out there. Concrete Playground reported on Auckland’s first, The Curious AF Bottle Shop when it first opened in late 2022, where they threw shade at the state of offerings at the time, “the stunning space gives an insight into just how expansive the international alcohol-free drink selection is these days — and shows just how few excuses our country’s bars and restaurants have for offering nothing better than lemonade.”Since then, other outfits such as The Chiller, an online shop based in Auckland have popped up with extended ranges of 0% options.