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Bud Zero

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Anheuser-Busch looking for a slam dunk in nonalcoholic beer category with Budweiser Zero


Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Wed, January 12, 2022, 11:19 AM

A big name is joining the burgeoning nonalcoholic beer market: Budweiser.

Another big name – recently retired NBA star Dwyane Wade – helped the big beer brand create Budweiser Zero, a 50-calorie beer with no alcohol, which is now rolling out nationwide.

Bud Zero is just the newest entry in a buzz-free beverage category that was energized 18 months ago by the arrival of another big beer name, Heineken 0.0.

Sales of nonalcoholic beers have risen 40% this year in dollars and are up 30% in volume, says Eric Shepard, vice president and executive editor for Beer Marketer’s Insights, which uses sales data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.


Retired NBA star Dwyane Wade helped Budweiser develop Budweiser Zero, a new nonalcoholic beer, that is becoming available nationally. The beer has only 50 calories and no sugar.

But nonalcohol beer makes up only about 0.4% of the total $116 billion beer market, according to the Brewers Association. "It's an opportunity and a challenge, right?" Shepard said. "Nonalcoholic beers have been around forever, but ... is the world waiting for Bud no alcohol? I guess we will find out."

Having retired after a 16-year career that included three NBA championships and 13 All-Star selections, Wade says he found himself "going to a lot of events where beer was getting shoved into my hand."

But he didn't always want to have another one. "I’m getting older now, I’m not that young, spry athlete that people had grown accustomed to," Wade said. "But I still want to be part of the conversation. I still want to be in the room with everyone else."

That led Wade to think about a nonalcoholic option and Budweiser, which last year released an iconic retirement commercial for his bow out from the court.

"We knew we were interested in the space but it wasn’t until we really spoke with Dwyane," said Monica Rustgi, vice president of marketing for Budweiser, that the potential "came to life."

For Wade, a no-alcohol beer makes sense because a person can throw back only so many beers without paying the price the next morning. "I have responsibilities. I have a 19-month-old daughter at home (with wife Gabrielle Union) I have to get up for at 4 in the morning for," he said. "What I love about this, for people that have responsibilities but still want to have a good time ... this is an added bonus to being able to continue to enjoy yourself but not waking up the next morning super hung over. But you don’t feel like you left anything on the table being with friends and family the night before."

Budweiser has seen the rise of healthier beers, hard seltzers and growing competition in nonalcoholic beers. Its Michelob Ultra is an industry leader and Bud Light-branded seltzers launched earlier this year. Anheuser-Busch InBev also has several no-alcohol and low-alcohol beers globally, including Busch NA, and has a goal of them accounting for 20% of total volume by 2025.

"We saw ... a big trend and growing space within the (nonalcohol) category. Over the next three years we see this growing significantly. it’s sizable," Rustgi said.

Bud Zero has a crisp taste with enough hop bitterness and grain character to perhaps serve as that last call for consumers. After becoming available in some markets in March, Bud Zero is now getting a full national launch. Initially, Bud Zero will be available in 12-packs of 12-ounce cans and 16-ounce single cans, with six-packs of bottles due in December.

The nonalcoholic beer competition is getting some much-needed new entrants including craft breweries such as Athletic Brewing Co., a brewer in Stratford, Connecticut, focused on nonalcoholic beers only. That's driven by consumers interested in lower-strength, lower-calorie and lower-carb beers, says Dave Williams of Bump Williams Consulting of Shelton, Connecticut, which services the beverage alcohol industry.

Younger drinkers, especially, are driving "a bit of a movement, holistically, toward this arena of ‘better for you’-type beverages and foods," he said.

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