White Claw launches electrolyte-enhanced 0% Alcohol: ‘It’s a fundamentally new kind of drink for every kind of adult drinker that could only come from White Claw’

White Claw 0% Alcohol will come in four flavors: Black Cherry Cranberry, Lime Yuzu, Peach Orange Blossom, and Mango Passion Fruit.

Some 62% of people who drink alcohol are interested in participating in Dry (or Damp) January, according to White Claw’s research: with 0% Alcohol rolling out in the US from January 1.

Decades of alcohol and taste research helps create 0% version

Launching in 2016, Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw catapulted the hard seltzer sector into the limelight and became a cult favorite, contributing more than $2bn to the hard seltzer category in 2021.

But the company identifies a ‘fundamental change’ in drinking culture: with its own survey identifying that the majority of people who drink alcohol (69%), Gen Z (81%), and Millennials (78%) are interested in exploring a 'sober curious' or 'damp' lifestyle.

Between August 2021 and August 2022, total dollar sales of non-alcoholic drinks in the US stood at $395 million, showing a year-on-year growth of +20.6%, according to Nielsen IQ figures.

Announcing the launch, White Claw promises the beverage will be a ‘a one-of-a-kind premium seltzer for adults, with a depth of complexity that tastes, feels, and looks like no other non-alcoholic drink.’

That has been achieved thanks to decades of research into how taste and alcohol work as part of the development of the original White Claw Hard Seltzer, according to the brand (it's focus on flavor has always been a key part of its marketing).

That ‘craft and science’ went into creating White Claw 0% Alcohol.

The brand is tight-lipped on the exact technologies it’s using, although revealed it is not a dealcoholized product: ‘After years of research and breakthroughs including development of our proprietary plant-based sweetener technology, White Claw has found a unique way to make beverages that have all the taste and complexity you expect in an alcoholic beverage, made non-alcoholic from the start, so it's not a lesser version of anything, it's more.’

Phil Rosse, President, Mark Anthony Brands Inc, says that – despite the growing number of alcohol-free options on the market – many brands fail to deliver on what consumers actually want.

"The industry is ripe for disruption as demand for flavorful, non-alcoholic drinks is on the rise, but current options like excessively sweet mocktails, bland waters, and near-beers are disconnected from what today's adult drinkers want," he said.

"White Claw 0% Alcohol paves the way for an entirely new adult beverage.

"Our newest breakthrough completely reimagines the idea of drinking by delivering the first ever elevated non-alcoholic choice with the complex taste and feel of a real drink that only White Claw can deliver." 

So a non-alcoholic hard seltzer is a... seltzer?

The brand champions its expertise in flavor innovations as a real point of difference in creating this 'premium seltzer'.

Then there’s the technological know-how in bringing these out, championing the lack of dealcoholization as an advantage over other alcohol-free drinks: ‘When alcohol is stripped out of alcoholic beverages - like with non-alcoholic beer - then taste, flavor, and the complexity that alcohol provides goes with it. For adults seeking the same depth of flavor that they get in alcoholic drinks, still or sparking seltzers with added flavor are no substitute—they're bland liquids that fall flat by comparison to real drinks.’

And the addition of hydrating electrolytes adds another point of difference: with 0% Alcohol containing half as many as some leading sports drinks – but with only a ‘fraction’ of the sugar and calories.

White Claw’s portfolio of hard seltzers have a 5% ABV and around 100 calories per can. Each 12 ounce slim cans of 0% Alcohol, however, contains 15 calories and 2g sugar. 

All this makes 0% Alcohol ready to fit in with any occasion: ‘Whether you're wanting the complexity of a real drinking experience where alcoholic beverages might not be appropriate—like a business lunch—or pacing yourself during an afternoon or night out with friends, or taking a day, a week, or a month off from alcohol, White Claw 0% Alcohol provides a delicious, low-calorie, hydrating non-alcoholic choice that doesn't make you seem like an outsider.’

Alcohol-free drinkers have long felt a stigma from choosing non-alcoholic drinks that can be perceived as inferior: a situation that is changing but that White Claw says remains entrenched in the US drinking culture.

According to its survey of US consumers (conducted in November this year), 63% of consumers say feelings of expectations and pressure from others, along with the fear of being judged, are making it challenging for them to avoid drinking alcohol during drinking occasions: ‘a gap for consumers that no one has addressed until now’.

The majority of consumers agree that non-alcoholic drink options help them feel more confident in social situations where they didn't want to drink alcohol (57%), make it easier for everyone to enjoy social occasions together (74%), and help them prioritize their physical health while not missing out on social opportunities (67%), according to the survey.