‘This is a sea change’: Welcome to the era of wellness drinks

The rise of health drinks has occurred directly in response to an overall shift in public attitudes towards physical and mental health, both of which have come to be encapsulated under the umbrella term of “wellness.”

Rates of alcohol consumption are an illustrative example. While there was a spike in drinking across the US during the pandemic, more recent data shows younger Americans have begun to cut back on alcohol. A report from Gallup published in August of last year, for example, found that 62% of adults under the age of 35 say they drink alcohol – a decrease of 10% over the past 20 years. (That same Gallup poll also found that rates of drinking have increased, meanwhile, for adults over the age of 55.)

Data has also shown that Gen Zers, in particular, have been drinking less than previous generations: A 2018 report from Berenberg Research found that this generation drinks 20% less than millennials did at the same age, who in turn tend to drink less than their parents did. This generational drift away from alcohol has been a major driver of social media-driven trends like the "sober curious" movement and Dry January.

The explosion of the wellness drinks category in the US has also coincided with the nationwide movement to legalize cannabis, which has provided Americans disenchanted with boozing with an alternative means of relaxation. As of early 2024, 24 states have legalized cannabis. (It remains illegal at the federal level.)

As always, the market reflects the ebbs and flows of the zeitgeist. The beverage industry has watched in recent years as growing numbers of (especially younger) people have been eliminating or moderating their alcohol intake, and in response a huge number of alcohol-free and other wellness drinks have begun to appear. “This is not a fad – this is a sea change,” says Marc Siden, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of CBD-infused beverage brand Cloud Water. “It’s not only answering the demand, it’s the thirst of the entrepreneur trying to find the next big gold rush.”

Some of these brands were launched in direct response to their founders’ personal journeys. Siden, for example, was diagnosed and successfully treated for colon cancer earlier in his life. He’s in remission, but the experience set him on a mission to rethink everything that he was putting into his body.

He eventually discovered CBD – a cannabinoid extracted from the cannabis plant – and ”was absolutely blown away” by the growing body of research pointing to the compound’s myriad health benefits. He co-founded Cloud Water in 2018, intent on his goal of bringing the benefits of CBD to the masses.

Then there’s Megan Klein, who founded mocktail brand Little Saints in 2021 after feeling unsatisfied with the non-alcoholic options on offer. “When you have fewer variables around you – when you have fewer distractions, when it’s not social anymore – you really start to see the toll that alcohol is taking on your own health,’” she says.

During the summer of 2021, Klein drove around the Midwest, selling Little Saints mocktails out of a small trailer she’d attached to the back of her Jeep. She was encouraged by the number of people she met who, like her, were looking for an alternative to alcohol. Though she had been working as a product designer by that point for years, she said that that “was the first time I was making something that people were super actively seeking out and [that] was solving a real problem.”

Klein’s decisions to quit drinking and launch of Little Saints were inspired by experiences with psychedelic plant medicines. María Sabina, a Mazatec woman who is credited with introducing magic mushrooms to westerners, used to refer to the mushrooms as “little saints.” In 2014, Klein journeyed to the Peruvian Amazon village of Iquitos to drink ayahuasca for the first time; she still makes annual pilgrimages. “I wanted something that was inspired by plant magic but not a psychedelic itself,” she says of her decision to found Little Saints.

Klein’s psychedelic forays radiate through her brand’s marketing. Little Saints’ website is full of colorful illustrations of jungle flora, psychoactive amanita muscaria mushrooms and jaguar shamans. And yet for all the overt imagery used in its marketing, Little Saints’ products are intoxicant-free.

Recess founder and CEO Benjamin Witte tells a similar story to Klein. He says that his brand – which has since become one of the most successful alcohol-alternative beverage companies on the market – can be traced back to the anxiety he experiencing following the 2016 election. “I just had this thesis that the next 30 years are going to be crazy,” he says. Sensing a general rise in stress across the population, he set out to build a brand devoted to promoting calm and well-being, “an antidote to modern times.”

In addition to a selection of canned mocktails, Recess also offers magnesium- and adaptogen-infused seltzers and powdered supplements. Witte says Recess’s “business has been doubling year-over-year” and that the ready-to-drink mocktail space has begun to “explode.”

Though the “sober curious” movement arose in tandem with the non-alcoholic beverage market, Witte dislikes the phrase. “What we see is that the bigger trend is alcohol moderation, not elimination,” he says. According to Witte, more people today are looking to simply cut back on drinking as opposed to completely cutting alcohol out of their diets. “Some brands can feel a little bit ‘Holier than thou’ around not drinking, and I think that’s wrong,” he says.

In Safeway – where Recess recently launched – Witte says that his brand’s products can be found right next to hard seltzers like White Claw and High Noon. “That’s where we want to be. When you’re having a party, you'’re just gonna grab your hard seltzer and your Recess. I think it’s going to be rude to not have an alc-alternative at a party in the future.”

From fast food to sloe gin, the food & drink space is massively appetizing to marketers. Join us as we dig into some of the sector’s biggest trends during The Drum’s Food & Drink Focus.