Sobering times for UK alcohol-free bars as many struggle to survive

We may be in the era of the “sober curious generation” but alcohol-free bars are struggling to survive.

Although growing numbers of people are opting for alcohol-free beers and cocktails at home and in pubs, several exclusively dry bars in the UK and Ireland have closed over the past couple of years.

The pop-up Love From, in Manchester, became the latest to shutter at the end of July, raising questions over the business viability of alcohol-free bars. It follows BrewDog’s decision to sell alcohol in its sober Shoreditch pub in London less than a year after opening, as well as the closure of Torstig in Brighton earlier this year and Virgin Mary in Dublin last spring, both of which blamed spiralling overheads and the cost of living crisis.

But Karl Considine, the owner of Love From, said that although businesses were struggling, the alcohol-free movement was not going away. “Alcohol free is a trend right now and it’s something that’s quite topical, but also we are seeing behaviours change around that – people are looking for alternatives to socialising around alcohol,” he said.

“It’s a new and emerging market, but all the data shows younger generations are drinking less and less compared to older people.”

There are several alcohol-free bars still in operation in the UK including Derby’s Yada Collective, which runs events and wellbeing workshops, Liverpool’s The Brink Cafe, which is located in an addiction recovery centre and targeted at those overcoming addictions, and London’s Club Soda, which doubles as a bottle shop.

Although Love From launched as a pop-up last October, Considine planned to turn it into a permanent bar. However, he ended it prematurely because of the challenges of running a business targeted at a niche audience during a “tough economic climate” in which consumers were spending less generally.

Considine added that dry bars struggle with their lower rate of sale – a typical customer might sit enjoying a single alcohol-free cocktail with friends for a couple of hours then leave, compared with people in pubs consuming several pints over a few hours.

“The economics are very different, when you’re running a venue with overheads attached it’s really difficult to make that balance,” he said, but added that the concept “seemed to really connect with a lot of people”, particularly during Dry January when “we were slammed every day”, with customers praising the high-quality cocktails and the business attracting more than 10,000 followers on Instagram.

As such, Love From will continue to operate at festivals and events, and if it reopens in a permanent space it will probably focus more on events, which Considine said were the most successful nights for the business. “We’ll try to build a hook and pull around events that appeal to people, and the fact they’re alcohol free is almost secondary to that – this cool film club, but by the way the bar is booze free,” he said.

Considine speculated that his business was “a tiny bit early”, contrasting the UK market with the popularity of dry bars in the US, in particular those that double as bottle shops or which serve popular functional drinks with adaptogens, such as CBD or 5-HTP, thought to relax and improve mood, or nootropics such as caffeine, L-theanine, and vitamins B6 and B12, all which can have an impact on cognitive function.

Although all bars serve a growing range of non-alcohol beverages, Considine said the totally alcohol-free nature of Love From appealed to people who do not drink for religious reasons, with Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Muslims among the regular clientele. But he added that non-drinkers and drinkers alike welcomed the relaxed atmosphere, and enjoyed “a different experience that’s not centred on booze”.