Australian-founded non-alcoholic spirits brand Lyre’s has delivered record sales during Dry January.

With a global footprint in over 40 countries, Lyre’s said it captured a higher amount of new customers in January versus preceding months, reflecting the changing drinking behaviour of consumers.

Comparing January with the same month last year, Lyre’s eCommerce sales have been explosive, with revenue growth of 538%, generated from a 375% increase in the number of first-time customers. Combining eCommerce with traditional retail and on-trade channels shows that Lyre’s banked a 1000%+ increase in all revenues versus the same time last year.

Additionally, with line and brand extensions, Lyre’s continues to drive non-alcoholic category growth with sales of the recently launched Lyre’s RTDs almost totally exhausting all available stock due to the spike in interest from Dry January. The RTDs were also recently launched into their second global market – the United States.

Throughout February, revenues have already been reported at 48% higher than the prior month, and visitation has continued to rise also, with new visitors up 25%. 

The trend towards more mindful drinking is becoming the norm, and Dry Jan and ‘Feb Fast’ seem to be merging into one long alcohol-free period for some consumers, with ‘Moderation March’ being offered by some as a natural extension to the mindfulness-focussed period.

Lyre’s Founder Mark Livings (above) said: “The zero-alcohol category is undeniably accelerating at pace and the benefits of reducing or eliminating alcohol are moving from passive curiosity to broad desirability, being adopted by increasing numbers of the population. The entry point for this change for many consumers is one of the ‘dry festival’ months, like the recent Dry January.  These have become incredibly important launchpads for entry into our brand and the category more broadly.  Our data shows us that the benefits aren’t just captured during the dry month, but rather there’s a lift to baseline demand, indicative of these months starting a lasting lifestyle change.”

Recent data from IWSR (“No- and Low-Alcohol Strategic Study 2021”) shows that the no/low category within the beverage alcohol market is set to grow by 31% over the next three years. 

“We are so proud with what we’ve accomplished with Lyre’s in 18 months,” Livings said. “To show a Dry January 1000% larger in revenue terms than last year tells us we’re really on the right track.  We’ve just established our footprint in our 40th country, recruited our 50th full-time staff member and are hitting mid-cap firm annualised revenues.

“There are extraordinary tailwinds fuelling the category’s growth and I’m delighted that we seem to have the right product and brand to continue to outpace the growth of the category and grow share. 2021 is going to be particularly exciting for us as we scale our RTD range globally, deliver even more innovations to market and with some luck, start to see our products again placed behind the bars of the world’s best establishments as the world turns to reopening.”

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