With the last crumbs of holiday cookies polished off and the recycling full of New Year’s Eve libations taken out, it’s officially resolution season. That means a spike in gym memberships (unless you’re Equinox) and a major boost in sales for non-alcoholic (NA) beverages as consumers commit to Dry January.

It’s an especially big season for NA beer, which controlled 85.3% of the $395 million US consumers spent on NA beverages between August 2021–August 2022, per NielsenIQ.

“[Beer people] want to win Cinco de Mayo, we want to win Fourth of July, we want to win Memorial Day weekend. In the zero-beer world, you want to win January,” Heineken USA CMO Jonnie Cahill told Retail Brew.

Heineken’s first NA offering, Heineken 0.0, was introduced in global markets in 2017 and made its US debut in January 2019. In 2020, the beer giant announced it was investing $50 million annually in the segment. But it hasn’t all been smooth-sailing: “I think people thought maybe we lost our mind,” Cahill told us.

“We knew the megatrend was with us in terms of non-alcoholic beer, but we also recognized in the US, it was very underdeveloped as a segment,” he said. “So going back in time, now it seems obvious, like how could we miss? But at the time, it was still a brave move.”

• The category has “definitely grown up,” Cahill said. Anheuser-Busch introduced its own NA Budweiser iteration, Budweiser Zero, in 2020, and said it aims to make 20% of its global beer volume low- and no-alc by 2025. This past November, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) took a minority stake in NA beer maker Athletic Brewing Company, as part of its $75 million funding round.

Now, Heineken is looking to push the category further, with new products and strategies in the works as NA bevs gear up for another year of growth.

Keep reading here.—EC

“Nonalcoholic beer, wine, and spirits are grabbing headlines because it’s Dry January…But it turns out that drinking 0% ABV IPAs has turned into a year-round phenomenon for health-conscious customers,” writes Morning Brew’s Jamie Wilde:

Retail sales of nonalcoholic beverages grew more than 20% last year, and 120% over three years, per Nielsen.

Meanwhile, sales of alcoholic beer and wine have declined year over year, and alcoholic spirit sales grew less than 1% annually.

The nonalcoholic drinks sector, despite its recent growth, is a shot glass to Big Alcohol’s das boot, with the former representing a tiny 0.47% of the broader buzzed industry.

Read the whole story here on Morning Brew.

Today’s top retail reads.

Cosmetic improvement: How L’Oréal developed an electronic makeup applicator for users with mobility challenges. (Evening Standard)

Flash back: Old timey point-and-shoot digital cameras have caught on with Gen Z. “I feel like we’re becoming a bit too techy,” said Zounia Rabotson, 22. “To go back in time is just a great idea.” (the New York Times)

Grandfather clock out: A TikTok user helped raise more than $108,000 to help an 82-year-old Walmart cashier finally retire. (Insider)

Over there, captain! It’s not a pirate ship, but Sifted’s Top Parcel Shipping Trends for 2023 report. This bad boy has some serious intel on shipping in 2023. Read it here.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

On December 29, the first licensed cannabis store in the state of New York opened in the East Village of Manhattan. This makes New York the 21st state where recreational use is legal, meaning not just for medical purposes, but in licensed stores where it can be purchased, much like a bottle of pinot noir. (Why do they always call it “recreational” as if it’s like joining the kickball league?)

The cannabis industry is growing like—what else?—a weed.

• Retail cannabis sales in the US were an estimated $27 billion in 2021, according to MJBiz.
• That grew to an estimated $33 billion in 2022 and will reach an estimated $38.8 billion in 2023.

But even though it’s a legal business in 21 states, cannabis is still illegal under federal law, which can pose a challenge for entrepreneurs to secure loans and other bank services. So while we’re a long way from Reefer Madness, for some, it may still carry a stigma.

You tell us: Would you have any qualms about working in the cannabis industry? Cast your vote here.

Circling back: Last time, we asked you about PorchPals, a startup that takes a novel approach to package insurance.

• Consumers pay $15 monthly (or $120 annually) to cover packages shipped by any retailer using any major shipper. PorchPals covers up to three claims annually and/or a collective value of up to $2,000 annually.

The policies became available in California on November 28, with plans to expand nationally this year. So we asked if it would be worth it to you to pay $120 annually for package insurance that could cover up to $2,000 worth of stolen packages. Hard pass for the vast majority of you, with 85.7% saying that’s not something you’d purchase. Just 9.2% of you said that something that you’d be somewhat or very likely to purchase, while 5% of you did not know or weren’t sure.—AAN

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Why doesn’t Amazon accept PayPal?
• Consumers gravitated to affordable, reliable brands in 2022
• How luxury is likely to fare in 2023