Boom in the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink market

2023-08-22 08:00:58

Sparkling waters, iced teas, kombucha, matés, energy drinks, sodas, mocktails… The offer of non-alcoholic beverages in cans is booming in food stores and restaurants. This niche attracts a large number of young Quebec entrepreneurs, who perceive it as a new Klondike.

Among them are Mélanie Aumais and Pierre-Hugues Marois, co-owners of Fin Soda. In their premises in Verdun, notes of lemon squeezed on site and verbena escape from the hot maceration tank. After a few hours, the liquid will be transferred to other machines to be filtered and carbonated, then it will go to canning.

The fresh, and often local, ingredients for their different flavors are stored in the same room. Not far from there are stacked 250 ml copies of their four flavors: haskap and balsam fir, aperitivo, mule and, unsurprisingly, lemon and verbena.

“We started the project in the fall of 2021. We are both bartenderprofession and we had a lot of free time. We saw the alcohol-free trend coming in several major cities around the world and we predicted that it would come here,” says Ms.^me More.

The couple expect to produce at least 250,000 colored cans this year, but their equipment has the capacity to produce six times as many. To make them profitable, they offer other start-up companies the possibility of using their facilities. The two partners believe that this market will continue to develop in the coming years.

“For years, people were drinking Coke, ginger ale and Sprite without question. There are a variety of products that can be consumed from morning to evening. For example, canned coffee in the morning, fruit juice in the afternoon, mocktails in the evening. There is room for everyone,” says Mélanie Aumais.

Like many players in this industry, entrepreneurs believe that a significant portion of consumers are looking for original, less sugary and more natural products. The practicality of the cans also seems to suit their busy lives. Pierre-Hugues Marois affirms that his company is in full expansion, being distributed as far as the Magdalen Islands and Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

“It’s a bit like the golden age of craft drinks, more niche products, more conscientious of the environment and people’s needs,” comments the entrepreneur, who wears a yellow cap and big glasses.

From Etienne Boulay to Maripier Morin

Jonathan Robin, of the Agro-Biotech station in Saint-Hyacinthe, remembers the madness that followed the launch of his Atypique alcohol-free ready-to-drink line in 2020. The success was such that the brand, co-founded with former football player Étienne Boulay, was sold to manager Keurig D^r PepperCanada. Since then, competition has increased in the field. We saw, among others, host and actress Maripier Morin launch the mocktail company Mox this summer.

Several food businesses are seeing an increase in demand, but especially in the supply of non-alcoholic beverages. Joanie Gaudette, marketing coordinator for the Epicia group, which owns a few banners, including Valmont, notices that several Quebec iced tea, kombucha and sparkling water companies are approaching them.

“I would say it’s hard to follow because there are so many new companies. Unfortunately, since our branches have limited spaces, it is difficult for us to hold all these products,” said Ms.^me Gaudette by email.

The battle for tablets is tough against large companies, which secure a lot of space. How to stand out? Mr. Robin believes that taste and price make the difference. For the next few years, the Agro-Biotech station plans to expand its factory and focus on “new innovative beverages”, according to the business manager.

Wintergreen and guayusa

It is by being creative and authentic that many small companies hope to have found a lucrative niche. For example, the two brothers, owners of Produits Sauvages — KEB, in the Mauricie region, pick the wintergreen that flavors their sparkling water themselves in the forest. This has been sold for a few months, mainly in their region.

“There are few steps in production and we can offer a cheap product,” explains Vincent Bussière-Lavallée, who still works part-time at the SAQ.

The co-founders of Ooya Infusions, for their part, offer what they call “a natural and healthy alternative to energy drinks” using guayusa, a plant native to Ecuador. Mathilde Léger reports that their sales more than doubled between their first and second full year of existence, reaching 400,000 cans.

The owner of Mystea, for her part, launched into ready-to-drink products about a year and a half ago, in addition to the popular tea shop that she has been operating for 12 years in Sherbrooke. “We said to ourselves that there weren’t really any cans of Quebec non-sparkling iced tea on the market,” says Anne Ricard.

These three companies have chosen to subcontract their production to another Quebec company given the significant investment involved in the purchase of specialized equipment.

Annick Van Campenhout, vice-president of the Food Processing Council of Quebec, believes that this market is starting to be saturated, a bit like microbrewed beers. She also points out that alcoholic ready-to-drink products also flood the shelves. She advises those who want to get into this sector now to do a solid market study.