Trend check: A sobering reality takes over the beverage industry
From blank stares to a billion-dollar category, the sober-curious movement created opportunities everyone else missed.
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The TL;DR: The non-alcoholic beverage industry is winning by doing what alcohol brands couldn’t: creating drinks people actually want to remember the next morning.
What the data says: The global non-alcoholic beverage market hit $20 billion in 2023, doubling since 2019, with 7% projected annual growth through 2028. Meanwhile, traditional cocktail culture is getting disrupted by entrepreneurs who started in their kitchens, not boardrooms.
Key players: From JW Wiseman’s Curious Elixirs turning kitchen experiments into 8-figure revenue to Melanie Masarin’s Ghia redefining what “going for a drink” means, founders are building the future of celebration.
The breakdown
When JW Wiseman woke up one morning after consuming 20 drinks in a single night, the moment changed everything.
The marketing exec and bar owner realized he needed to take a break from drinking. Alcohol, that is.
It was 2015, and there weren’t many non-alcoholic alternatives to complex cocktails. The options were basically ordering a Shirley Temple or a sparkling water. But JW still craved the ritual and mouthfeel of a hand-crafted drink. So he started tinkering in his kitchen, stirring up a functional and flavorful non-alcoholic Negroni. But when he mentioned “booze-free cocktails” to people, he mostly got blank stares.
That kitchen experiment became Curious Elixirs, now an 8-figure brand in the $20 billion non-alcoholic market. Since 2019, the category has exploded, with projected growth of 7% annually through 2028, according to IWSR beverage research.
The brands that are winning in this space— Curious Elixirs, Ghia, De Soi, and Monday to name a few—all have something in common. They aren’t just mimicking alcohol. They’re creating something so good that “non-alcoholic” becomes just one detail, not the headline. Here’s how founders are tapping into the zero-proof market and building the future of drinking.
Community first, products second
In a young category, your community isn’t just a target market—it’s your R&D lab. JW learned this early. In 2015, he wanted to create alcohol-free versions of the complex drinks he loved, but the market wasn’t ready. The “sober curious” movement didn’t exist yet.
“When we launched on Kickstarter a decade ago, it wasn’t just because we needed the money—it was a strategic choice to build community from day one,” JW says. “Back then, there was no ‘sober curious’ movement. When I’d mention booze-free cocktails, people gave me blank stares…So we had to educate consumers one person at a time. That’s how it starts.”
This community-first approach isn’t unique to Curious Elixirs. Before becoming a major online retailer for adult non-alcoholic drinks, The Zero Proof started as a blog. Co-founder Sean Goldsmith and his best friend documented their alcohol-free lifestyle.Traffic grew. The audience validated the demand. Only then did they build a Shopify store.
Ghia founder Melanie Masarin followed a similar playbook. Tired of overly sweet mocktails, she tested early versions with friends and chefs, pouring roughly a thousand samples before locking the final formula. By listening to community feedback, she created a drink—and a brand—that felt celebratory and inclusive.
The pattern is clear: start with conversation, not product development. Let your audience show you what to build.
Don’t just mimic—reinvent
Here’s where some NA brands struggle: they try to recreate alcohol without alcohol. It’s like making vegan meat that tastes exactly like beef—you’re competing on someone else’s terms.
Douglas Waters from Spirited Away calls this the “third wave” of NA drinks: “We’ll stop defining it by what it’s not, and start defining it by what it is.”
This reinvention shows up in three key areas: flavor, functionality, and packaging.
Take Melanie’s approach with Ghia. She built the drink out of frustration with syrupy mocktails, aiming for a bold, bittersweet spirit made from real ingredients that felt like “a new-age bitter or Italian amaro that would just be better for you.” Her goal was “a drink that would take you to this place without numbing the night; a drink you’d remember in the morning.”
Ritual Zero Proof took a different angle. The team realized taste alone wasn’t enough and focused on mouthfeel. Using botanicals like jambu and prickly ash, they created spirits that slot directly into cocktail recipes. “Ritual was created because we love a good cocktail, with or without alcohol,” says co-founder David Crooch.
The most powerful innovation, though, is happening in functionality. Wellness is a major driver for NA beverages, and founders are turning drinks into tools that support how you want to feel.
JW says the original vision for Curious Elixirs was to create cocktails that nourish: “When I started tinkering in my kitchen trying to make a non-alcoholic Negroni, I wasn’t just asking ‘How delicious can we make this?’ I was also asking ‘What if this drink could make my body feel better instead of worse?’ It’s the same thing as that quote often attributed to Hippocrates: ‘Let food be thy medicine.’”
Curious Elixirs’ bestseller, Curious No. 1, features Rhodiola rosea, an adaptogen known for reducing stress and fatigue.
Innovation also extends to how drinks are packaged and experienced. Ghia noticed customers asking how to serve their spirit, so the team built an “ecosystem” around it: a distinctive bottle, custom glassware, and RTD spritzes in cans. The spritz format made Ghia an easy option for mid-afternoon breaks and picnic-friendly pours. It’s not just about what’s in the bottle—it’s about the entire ritual around it.
Create connections IRL
Even the most innovative product will sit on the shelf if people are hesitant to buy. A beautifully branded drink online is intriguing, but committing to a full bottle without tasting it is a big ask. In-person experiences solve that problem.
“One of the biggest things in the non-alc sector, especially for higher-priced items, is ‘Is it worth it?’” says Ed Carino, co-founder of Proof No More, a leading New York-based non-alcoholic distributor. “The price can be a barrier for someone. But if they taste it and know they like it, they know they’re not wasting money.”
Ed watched this play out at the second annual Proof No More tasting event at Shopify NY: “We had a customer try an expensive drink, normally $39 on our website. After she tried it, she made a purchase. More than likely she would not have purchased it if she just saw it online.” The tasting turned a curious browser into a high-intent buyer within minutes.
This strategy scales beyond events. Melanie from Ghia personally opened her first 400 restaurant accounts by DMing chefs on Instagram and dropping by in person. She knew Ghia had to show up where people socialize. The throughline: make it easy for people to try your product in real life, then make it effortless to buy again online.
Build trust to validate pricing
When customers choose a $35 bottle of non-alcoholic spirit over a $15 bottle of wine, they’re not just buying a drink—they’re buying into a belief system. Your job isn’t to justify the price; it’s to make the price feel obvious.
Premium brands like Curious Elixirs bring customers behind the scenes to highlight specialized ingredients and their benefits. Product education builds trust, so breaking down your process on packaging, your website, and your social channels becomes critical.
Design also plays a role in signaling value. Ghia’s bottle looks and feels like an object worth displaying, with a visual identity that reinforces its ingredient-driven story. The packaging itself tells customers this is something special.
The restaurant channel offers another strong proof point. Ed at Proof No More has seen this firsthand: “We sell to a high-end restaurant in New York City. Their traditional non-alc drinks were typical: waters, sodas, teas—and they were doing between $2,000 to $3,000 with those. Once they added adult non-alc options like non-alc beer, cocktails, and wine, the revenue went up to $6,000 to $8,000 per week.”
When restaurants can more than double their non-alcoholic beverage revenue by offering sophisticated alternatives, it sends a clear message: customers are willing to pay more for elevated, non-alcoholic experiences. The insight: you’re not selling a drink. You’re selling a deliberate choice.
What this means for entrepreneurs everywhere
The non-alcoholic movement is redefining what it means to “go for a drink.” As Ghia’s Melanie Masarin puts it, the mission is to “take back the word drinking from alcohol.”
By starting with community, moving beyond imitation into real innovation, creating in-person experiences, and building trust around price, entrepreneurs are rewriting drinking culture.
This applies beyond the world of beverages. What obvious thing is everyone else missing in your space?
JW found it in cocktails. Melanie found it in bitters. Where’s your “blank stare” moment?
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