LESS ALCOHOL AT EVENTS

Today I want to discuss DRINKING LESS ALCOHOL AT EVENTS, be they corporate events or private parties or weddings etc.

As we’ve discussed in prior blogs Dry January seems to gain popularity every year, and a few months ago I launched MODERATION FEBRUARY and got a great response and comments as people look for ways to drink less alcohol. This trend is growing in all aspects of society and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

In fact research from Nielsen IQ- suggest that consumers of all ages are curbing their alcoholic intake altogether, or enjoying it in moderation as a part of a SOBER CURIOUS lifestyle. Nielsen is the largest Consumer Intelligence Company in the world – you know them from Nielsen Ratings from TV-- they are the ones who tells us how many people watch which shows etc. They’ve been around forever and are the best source for consumer trends.

Also I have a friend who works for one of the largest wedding / event planners in the country and she has seen a huge increase in the last few years adding non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits to wedding catering menus. And go into any bar these days and they will have a few non-alcoholic beer options, as well as a list of MOCKTAILS that have the look feel and taste of hard liquor drinks but without alcohol. 

It’s worth noting too that there are a bunch of stores opening up that cater exclusively to the non-alcoholic drink market. We have one here locally in downtown Charleston called SECHEY, that has had huge growth in sales since opening in 2022. They are located on King Street which has one of the largest bar party scenes in the country. So that’s saying a lot.  

So if you are HOSTING an event of any kind, it would be smart I think to follow this trend and provide some non-alcoholic adult beverage options.  

Most beer brands now have a non-alcoholic (NA ) option Budweiser, Coors etc. and several brewers have risen up focused entirely on the NA model.. ATHLETIC BREWING Company is one. There are a number of NA wines and interesting Distillery in Kentucky called SPIRITLESS that makes a non-alcoholic Bourbon. On my website ModerationDrinking.com I have reviewed many of them.

And at the CORPORATE LEVEL according to CorporateEventNews.com there are some Best Practices you should follow when hosting an event with employees or vendors to limit liability and still allow for some fun

  1. Outline how your policy on Alcohol is enacted in the CORPORATE HANDBOOK.

  2. Shy away from hard liquor and just provide Beer and Wine PLUS some non-alcoholic options

  3. Always provide Food of some kind

  4. Limit the Quantity of Drinks paid for by the company with tickets or stamps to what appears to be an industry standard to TWO DRINKS, … then..

  5. Make it a CASH BAR, where employees pay for their own drinks

  6. Ask for DESIGNATED DRIVER volunteers, or offer to pay $X dollars of rideshare like Uber / Lyft

And let’s not forget my own personal favorite THE FIRST ROUND LAST CALL CHALLENGE COIN that makes you Accountable to yourself to just have TWO DRINKS, then stop drinking alcohol for the rest of the day. 

With some planning, you, your friends, your employees, coworkers, and your vendors can go mainstream with the trend of drinking less alcohol at ANY GATHERING.