Navigating the Non-Alcoholic Beverage Sector:
Standards, Compliance, and Sampling at Expo East
The non-alcoholic beverage (“NAB”) sector is hot. Whether you’re focused on health, counting calories, or merely sober-curious, there’s a product for everyone in this booming sector – including established brands diversifying into N/A offerings and small startups. If you were at Expo West 2023 or plan on joining us in September for Expo East, you’ll likely notice a major uptick in NAB exhibitors, including non-alcoholic (“N/A”) wine, beer, spirits and functional beverages.
As an NAB producer interested in exhibiting at New Hope Network Expos, what do you need to know?
Standards Review
The New Hope Network Standards team reviews every product prior to being approved to exhibit at our Expos. Per New Hope’s ingredient standards, products containing prohibited ingredients cannot be displayed at Natural Products Expos. Certain preservatives found in some N/A wines, such as sulfur dioxide, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, and Potassium Metabisulfite are acceptable at Expo, but NABs with these ingredients should not be marketed as ‘all-natural.’ Other ingredients sometimes found in N/A wines, such as artificial flavors and artificial colors, are prohibited at Natural Products Expos.
Regulatory Compliance
Hoping to find space on a grocery shelf? Having compliant labeling is a must. The Standards team also ensures that products meet a certain level of compliance with regulations set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. The regulatory landscape for NABs is complex. For example, N/A wines and N/A spirits are regulated by FDA and must comply with the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. N/A beer, on the other hand, is regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Practically speaking, this means a N/A wine or spirit needs a “nutrition facts panel” while N/A beers may include an optional “serving facts panel”.
There are also other labeling requirements—for example, N/A wine must be labeled as ‘dealcoholized’ or ‘alcohol-removed’ while an N/A beer cannot legally be labeled as a beer. If you look at an N/A beer can, you’ll notice many producers opt to call their products a ‘brew’ instead. With all the nuances of labeling a NAB, we offer affordable regulatory consulting through Market Ready Insights, which can assist you with your labeling, marketing and websites needs.
Sampling at the Show
We continue to focus on supporting the growing NAB industry in new ways. At Expo East, the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association will exhibit with a diverse array of its members, including zero proof spirit companies Tilden cocktails and Caleno Drinks, functional mocktail company PARCH spirits Co., and N/A wine producers Sovi and Thomson and Scott. ANBA is sponsoring Thursday night’s concert with Brett Dennen and six of their brands will be sampling – so you can show up to the show floor Friday feeling fresh.
Beacon Discovery
Through our new Beacon Discovery platform, retailers and brands can connect year-round, enabling retailers to find up-and-coming NABs. Beacon helps buyers navigate the show floor and find products through robust filtering by ingredients, geographic distribution, and more than 100 other filters. Learn more at beacon.newhope.com.
What’s Next?
The explosion of this sector is exciting for consumers, retailers and brands alike. Between the growing space, expanded consumer base and discovery of functional ingredients mimicking some of the desired effects of alcohol, there is a wealth of possibilities for both new and established brands to bring N/A products to market. Expo East is your opportunity to present these new ideas and products to retailers, and taking the right approach with ingredients and labeling is of the upmost importance. Be on the lookout as New Hope’s offerings for this sector continue to grow.
Curious to learn more? Book a consultation with our MarketReady Team today.
