Is it Dry or Damp January?

Phil: So, Sally, when I think about Dry January, and we've got a lot of stuff here to talk about, the first thing is, I mentioned Fast Company. So in 2019 what happened is Beer Insider sales were 14.5 million non-alcoholic, sorry, non-alcoholic beer insider sales. 

Phil: Now in 2023, they are above about 43 million and anticipated that in 2025, it'll be just under 70 million. So clearly, what's happening with Dry January is people are switching, and the question that I've got is whether or not people are really switching and staying with it. What we know from a factual standpoint, is giving up alcohol for the month according to the Alcohol Research and Health Group can lead to improved sleep, increased energy, better hydration, less anxiety, less depression. There is also a study for more than 800 people who took part in Dry January back in 2018. And again, pre pandemic, the average amount of drinks that participant, including those who tried and failed the challenge, was 3.3 drinks per week as compared to 4.3 drinks per week before Dry January. What do you think? Should we make it like dry 12 months a year?

Sally: Well, I think that those are really positive results and you know, this, this Dry January campaign started in the UK in 2012, and it has really gained a lot of momentum globally. You see it on social media, and we also know that our Gen Z population, you know, we've read study after study showing that they drink less alcohol than older generations. Mocktails are on our trends lists, and we're seeing them more and more in restaurants. So the results are really positive. But the other flip side of it too is that some people think that highly restricted diets, you know, or completely restricting yourself from alcohol maybe doesn't give us the result that we want, rather than learning how to manage our intake of things that we should only have in moderation. 

Phil: So a couple points. Number one, right before we went live, I noticed on my Alexa that now there's some skills on Alexa to help you with Dry January. So if you're interested, check those out. And also there's a dietitian by the name of Lauren Maner. And what she wants to do is change it instead of Dry January to Damp January, just to your point that it's not about total abstinence, but if you can just moderate it, it can help you with all those health benefits and you're probably gonna stick to it. 

Sally: Agreed. And we see this with diets, you know, all the time in studies that highly restricted diets are very hard for people to continue to follow. They're not sustainable for a majority of people. So, you know, maybe this is a new way to explore Dry January, you know, just encouraging people to pay attention to how many drinks they have and to moderate that. 

Phil: Absolutely.