For years, alcohol-free was treated as a small corner of the drinks industry. An “alternative” — something we needed to have on themenu for people who weren’t drinking alcohol.

This is changing.

Consumers are drinking differently, restaurants are taking alcohol-free more seriously, and a new generation of drinks is beginningto find its place at the table. Alcohol-free is no longer simply following the drinks industry. It is becoming a category in its own right.

But there is something I think we don’t talk about enough. If we are going to change what people drink in the future, this industry needs leadership.

Today, some of the world’s largest drinks companies are investing heavily in no- and low-alcohol. That is an important sign of the category’s maturity. But, to be frank, established wineries and spirits companies are very good at making alcoholic drinks. They have massive budgets, well-oiled organisations, strong distribution networks and often excellent leadership.

What they don’t necessarily have is a clear vision of where the 0% category can go. Their expertise, business models and history have been built around making drinks with alcohol. Naturally, when they enter this category, the starting point is something familiar.

Take gin. Remove the alcohol.

Take wine. Remove thealcohol.

There is logic to this. Consumers understand these categories. Retailers understand them. Restaurants know where to put them on a menu. The distribution and partnerships are already there. And there is nothing inherently wrong with that. But it creates a limitation.

If our ambition is simply to make alcohol-free versions of the drinks we already know, we are allowing the past to define the future.

The consumer is changing faster than the categories are.

Luckily, there are many entrepreneurs out there who are keen to be part of the shift in what we drink in the future: People whoaren’t trying to make copies of existing alcoholic drinks, but are creating entirely new categories. “Proxies”, for example – wine alternatives made with botanicals that aren’t made from grapes at all – but still offer complexity, structure and a genuine drinking experience.

This is where it gets interesting. Because people are not necessarily looking for a perfect imitation of a gin and tonic. They may be looking for something bitter, complex, dry and aromatic. Something that works with food. Something that creates a ritual. Something that gives them an experience they genuinely want, without needing alcohol to justify it.

That is a different brief, and it’s one that requires different thinking.

This is where leadership matters

Every major shift in an industry needs people willing to see further than the current market. People who are prepared to ask: Whatif we didn’t have to copy what already exists?

That kind of thinking rarely comes from market reports alone: It comes from founders, product developers, chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, designers, investors and other people who are prepared to put their reputation behind an idea before everyone else understands it. The alcohol-free category needs more of these people.

Not because the established alcohol industry has nothing to contribute. Quite the opposite – it has extraordinary knowledge of flavour, production, distribution, hospitality and consumer behaviour.

But there is a difference between having the resources to enter a category and having a vision for what the category could become. And that distinction matters.

Taste will decide

In many ways, I believe the alcohol-free wave is following the same path as the vegan and vegetarian movement. Thirty years ago, consumers were satisfied with vegan sausages and meatballs. They were alternatives to the “real” thing.

Today, some of the most exciting plant-based food isn’t trying to imitate meat at all. That change didn’t happen because consumers suddenly started asking for products that didn’t exist. It happened because strong individuals took an emerging trend, understoodthe underlying need and imagined what could come next — and then made it happen.

I believe alcohol-free is still in the early stages of that journey in most markets: The vast majority of consumers are not yet aware of just how good alcohol-free drinks can be. And if they don’t know what is possible, they can’t ask for it.

If we want consumers to choose alcohol-free more often, we have to give them reasons to do so that go beyond moderation, health or inclusivity – we need drinks that people actually want, whether to serve with food or sip alone after a hard day.

Drinks that are chosen because they taste good — not because they are the option you settle for when you don’t want alcohol. In other words, we need to move the conversation from: “What can I drink instead of alcohol?” to “What do I want to drink on this particular occasion?” That is a much bigger opportunity!

Leadership means staying with the idea

The alcohol-free wave has been slower than many (including me!) expected. When we launched Gnista in 2019, there weremany moments when it felt as though we were having the same conversations over and over again. Why alcohol-free? Why not just drink something else? Who is the consumer? Is this really a category?

But change rarely happens all at once. And the work you do when nobody is watching becomes the foundation for what happens later.

Today, the questions are different as restaurants are building more ambitious alcohol-free programmes with sommeliers exploring pairings. Distributors that have traditionally focused on wine are making space for alcohol-free producers and dedicated alcohol-free importers are emerging across Western markets, curating and building the category in their own right.

The next phase will not be about convincing people that alcohol-free exists – it will be about deciding what alcohol-free becomes. And that is where leadership matters.

Because the future consumer is not necessarily waiting for a non-alcoholic version of the drink they already know, they maybe waiting for something they have never tasted before, just that they don’t know it.. We have the opportunity to create something much better than a replacement for alcohol.

We have the opportunity to create the future of drinking.