Lyre’s, one of the foremost non-alcoholic spirits brands, has announced its entry into the world’s most strictly regulated drinks market.
The brand will launch into eight countries across the Middle East from this December, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan.
This launch marks a significant expansion for the company, as Lyre’s Co-Founder and CEO Mark Livings said: “The addition of eight new markets takes the brand’s global footprint to 60 countries in a little over two years since launch.”
In a statement to press, Lyre’s said it expected the Middle East region to contribute over 100,000 cases worth of sales and £15 million (AUD$27.6 million) in gross merchandise value to the company in the first year.
And Livings believes the potential reward is even greater: “We see the potential total addressable market for our products to be worth over $150 million in these regions by 2025, contributing growth for our business, our distributors and the hospitality and retailer operators.”
“What Lyre’s has achieved is highly strategic and removes the barriers to entire markets thirsty for premium beverages – which are already embracing the non-alcoholic beer category – and with a strong disposition to spend incomes out of home on luxury hospitality experiences.”
Lyre’s is partnering with Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI), a subsidiary of the Emirates Group, and a leading beverage distributor in the Middle East, to deliver its products to the region’s on-premise.
Tony Dodds, the Head of Principal Relations and Category Management at MMI commented: “We share the vision to continue to develop the non-alcoholic spirits industry across our key territories and look forward to a strong and long-term partnership with Lyre’s.”
Livings highlighted the key role that Lyre’s R&D team had played in unlocking this market: “The non-alcoholic spirits industry is relatively nascent in Middle Eastern countries due to the challenges faced in achieving true zero alcohol content.”
Whilst products in the UK can be labelled ‘non-alcoholic’ if they contain under 0.05 per cent ABV, in the Middle East there can be no presence of alcohol at all.
Livings continued: “It’s a remarkable achievement for the Lyre’s R&D and innovation team to have engineered 14 of our multi-award-winning non-alcoholic spirits in an indistinguishable format to their originals for the region. This has enabled Lyre’s to deliver the first compliant and true to taste range in these highly regulated markets.”
Lyre’s was founded in 2019, and now possesses a range of 14 non-alcoholic spirits, which the company claims is capable of reproducing alcohol-free versions of 90 per cent of the world’s best-selling cocktails. Lyre’s has a dedicated production team in Australia.
Lyre is first in, but there are likely to be others that follow.