The SAQ reported a drop in revenues of $18.7 million or 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of the fiscal 2023-2024 year compared to the same time last year.
The volume of alcohol measured in litres also declined by 1.9 per cent during the same period.
The drop in alcohol business appears to being picked up in sales at shops that sell non-alcoholic beverages.
Sales are booming at Apéro à zéro, a Montreal boutique that only sells non alcoholic beverages.
”People don’t want hangovers anymore,” Catherine Pépin, an employee of the boutique told Global News.
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Apéro à zéro is the only strictly non-alcoholic store of its kind in the province and sales for non-alcoholic beer, wine, spirits and mixed drinks are strong.
”People are more and more curious and the products are really good, we have quality products,” she said.
Stéphanie Breton and her partner were trying some of the mocktails for taste tasting. The couple is consuming less alcoholic beverages for a more healthy lifestyle.
”I enjoy drinking, like tasting the different tastes, but without feeling … the alcohol the next day,” Breton told Global News.
It’s a similar trend at the Dépanneur Écodep. The owner says there is a surge in sales of non-alcoholic beverages that started around the Christmas holidays and hasn’t slowed.
”It’s more than a trend. We can see that the sales are just going up,” Marie Moubarac, the owner told Global News.
Moubarac has had to make additional shelf space for non-alcoholic beverages to meet the requests of clients.
”We see it. Even with the spring coming, people are asking for non-alcoholic beverages,” she said.
It’s a similar situation at Apéro à zéro, which is already looking to expand as people drink up a more sober lifestyle.
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