Dan Murphy’s is scheduled to open its very first bar next week, when Zero% by Dan Murphy’s starts serving zero alcohol drinks in the Melbourne suburb of Hampton.
The stand-alone, fully-fitted bar will be serving seven days a week and will also offer patrons the opportunity to shop take-away items from a range of more than 200 products. Endeavour Group highlighted the drinks will range from 0.0 per cent alcohol, up to 0.5 per cent and that Food Standards Australia says beverages containing less than 0.5 per cent ABV are considered non-alcoholic.
Dan Murphy’s Managing Director Alex Freudmann said: “Zero% is in the middle of a vibrant high street, and it’s the perfect place to stop by for a lunch-time drink or after work with friends.
“Zero% has been designed with the customer and discovery at heart. The aim of our ZERO% bar is to create a destination where customers can discover the great quality and variety of the new wave of non-alcoholic drinks.”
As well as offering a large range of zero alcohol beers and wines by the glass, the bar team will be mixing up a variety of non-alcoholic cocktails including Negronis and Mojitos. In addition the bar will host free tasting sessions in partnership with leading, local producers.
In the last two years, Dan Murphy’s has seen sales of zero alcohol drinks increase over 100 per cent and Freudmann said he wanted to see Dan Murphy’s lead in the non-alcoholic space.
“Customers are increasingly choosing to drink less but better, and we are committed to giving them access and knowledge to make responsible lifestyle choices. We are the biggest retailer when it comes to low and zero alcohol options, and we want to continue to lead in this space,” he said.
“Zoomers and millennials are driving the growth in the category, and have made non-alcoholic drinks insta-cool.”
According to independent research commissioned by DrinkWise, the interest in zero alcoholic drinks is led by younger Australians.
“The trend is clearly being led by Australians aged 18-44 years, who are twice as likely to consume zero and low-strength alcohol consumption than those over 45 years,” DrinkWise CEO Simon Strahan said.
“The research indicated that zero and lower alcohol alternatives could assist the 43 per cent of the drinkers surveyed who signalled they wanted to cut down their consumption, so it’s great to see initiatives like Zero% by Dan Murphy’s raise awareness of these alternatives.
In fact, 32 per cent of those who reported that their alcohol consumption had decreased since the pandemic attributed the use of lower and zero alcohol products as assisting them in reducing their drinking,” he added.
Zero% opens its doors next week at 470 Hampton Street, Hampton; it will be open seven days a week and operating until the end of June.