Zebra striping the new drinking trend

Zebra stripingⁱ is a recent trend to socialise while having a beer, wine or spirit and alternating between alcohol and a no or low-alcohol drink.

It has been estimatedⁱⁱ that 25% of adults from the UK alternate alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks in a single session.

“We should not underestimate the importance of socialising responsibly with friends and family and the positive effects this has on our health”, said NZABC Executive Director Virginia Nicholls.

The IWSR 2024 international studyⁱⁱⁱ across 10 countries shows that no and low-alcohol drinks market is experiencing a transformative period of growth driven by evolving consumer behaviours and the momentum of no-alcohol.

The growth in NZ of no and low-alcohol drinks is being driven by a trend to moderation and in recent years by NZ breweries, distilleries and winemakers who have invested in innovation to enhance their no/low beer, wine and spirits offerings, with greater choice and better flavour.

“Across the NZ adult population we are also continuing to see the rise of no and low-alcohol drinks. Independent consumer research^iv found that 55% of respondents said they drank low-alcohol beverages in the past year (up from 40% in 2020). The most common reasons are because they were driving, tracking their beverage consumption, for health and wellbeing reasons and for a lower calorie drink”, said Virginia.

On-licences in NZ would support a change to s52 of the Sale & Supply of Alcohol Act (SSAA) to provide no-alcohol and/or low-alcohol products. The interpretation of the SSAA is that operators must stock low alcohol products.

“In NZ we are drinking less and drinking better with the move to moderation as part of a balanced lifestyle”, said Virginia.

The recent release of the annual NZ Health survey^v provides information on New Zealander’s health and wellbeing shows that 83.4% of NZ adults (more than four out of five of us) are drinking beer, wine and spirits responsibly. This is an increase of 4.7 percentage points over the past four years (78.7% 2019/20).

Hazardous drinking^vi or harmful alcohol consumption among adults over the past four years has declined to 16.6% (21.3% 2019/20).

The Stats NZ alcohol consumption per capita has also declined 30% since 1986^vii.

The Health NZ guidelines for low risk drinking are two standard drinks a day for women, and three standard drinks a day for men, with at least two alcohol-free days each week.