Lesson: Change doesn’t happen when products evolve, it happens when habits do. 

The “non-alcoholic” boom looks unstoppable. According to IWSR, global sales of no- and low-alcohol drinks grew 31% between 2020 and 2023, with the market projected to surpass $43 billion by 2027. (source) From Heineken 0.0 to Tanqueray 0.0, nearly every legacy brand has entered the space. The U.S. is driving premium innovation, India is catching on through metro hospitality programs, and the UAE, ironically, one of the strictest regions on alcohol, has become a testbed for luxury “zero-proof” experiences. But growth data alone hides the nuance. What started as a movement toward mindful drinking is turning into a marketing arms race built on moral signaling. The narrative shifted from “drink with awareness” to “don’t drink at all.” For a while, that framing worked, until consumers began asking what they were really buying. Because removing alcohol doesn’t automatically create meaning. I felt this shift early on and wrote about it in my previous D-Brief: The Truth Behind Non-Alcoholic Brands and What I Saw Early, when so many new players equated purity with progress. Their intentions weren’t wrong, just incomplete. Everyone promised clarity or calm, but almost no one stopped to ask the question that actually shapes behavior: what ritual are we helping people rewrite?

At Jivati, that question became our starting point. We never built around “giving up.” We built around upgrading the ritual, the ingredients, and the conversation. The name itself means to be alive, and that’s the standard we held ourselves to. Mindful doesn’t have to mean minimal; it can mean intentional. Our audience wasn’t asking for permission to drink. They were asking for a belonging that didn’t depend on alcohol content, a way to “live up life” without losing the moment. The real risk in the “non-alcoholic” surge isn’t oversupply, it’s hollow positioning. “Zero” becomes a moral posture rather than a cultural contribution. And when every can promises the same functional benefits, the real differentiator becomes simple: is it built for the way people gather today?

Across the U.S., India, and the UAE, the next phase of this category won’t be defined by volume; it’ll be defined by integration. The real divide isn’t between losing alcohol or keeping it; it’s between chasing virtue and designing value. And for founders, the real work begins with understanding the moments people want to participate in, with or without alcohol.

Closing Thought

Real change isn’t about taking choices away, it’s about creating better ones. People don’t want to escape; they want to engage mindfully. The brands that evolve will stay relevant by moving with culture, not around it.

Stick around. I’m just warming up.

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