Non alcoholic drinks should be cheaper

[Globules]

Last night, my friend requested a specific flavour of bottled cider. When she saw the second bottle being poured, she saw that it was non alcoholic. Neither of us knew that this bar only stocked the non alcoholic version of this flavour.

My friend asked them to swap that bottle for an alcoholic flavour, which they did. The cost was exactly the same, which shocked me.

A fortnight ago, I had a 0% gin in a bar. Again, it cost the same as a normal gin.

AIBU thinking that the non alcoholic equivalents of drinks should be cheaper? Particularly when you account for the additional alcohol tax?

YABU-there's still the same costs involved
YANBU-people should be encouraged to buy the non alcoholic versions

Is the wholesale price of the non-alcoholic one lower?

In the pub I drink in non-alcoholic cans/bottles are a set price and roughly £1-£1.50 cheaper than alcoholic cans/bottles but £1 dearer than a can of juice. I think this is fair.

It wouldn’t occur to me to question. You’re paying for the drink you want.

What do mean, "should be cheaper"?

By law? Where and when? For health reasons? To incentivise not drinking? By whom?

I suppose it depends if there's duty on non alcoholic stuff. Broadly I agree, it shoukd be cheaper.

I'm not sure why it would be cheaper if it's a non alcoholic cider for example - that's gone through a manufacturing/preparation process/bottling etc and that'll cost a fair bit, so I expect to pay the same / similar.

I'd expect a cocktail to be more expensive than its non alcoholic mocktail partner - because that's missing the inclusion of the alcohol ingredient which would be expensive, eg. A virgin mojito has all the same bits but no rum.

It should be cheaper, there’s tax on alcohol which isn’t on alcohol free equivalents.

Yes, they should be cheaper as there is no alcohol duty on the non alcohol ones. This is especially true for, say, non alcohol beers in the supermarket.

The wholesale cost to bars is generally the same for the specialty non alc versions.

if you don’t want gin I would recommend tonic water with lemonade and ice.

I remember reading it costs slightly more to produce a non alcoholic version of the alcoholic version.

"Fair" doesn't come into it.

If you want a cheaper non alcoholic drink try drinking mainstream squash or cola.

Companies are spending a lot of money developing and marketing these new products and tastes for what is currently a small customer base, as the volume of sales is less there is less opportunity to take advantage of cost savings through mass production/supply chain efficiencies. As they become more popular the price will decrease.

It’s quite an involved process to make non-alcoholic drinks taste like their alcoholic counterparts. The duty on the alcohol is probably less than that cost, so I would expect them to be around the same price. In countries where there isn’t the duty, beers and wines are a similar price to soft drinks and juices are often more expensive. I remember my child’s pure juice was more expensive than my glass of wine!

It’s a bit like gluten free food, it takes a lot to make it taste like regular food and is more expensive.

It costs more to make, as they have to take the alcohol out of the drink. So, no.

a coke from the bar taps to a bottle of non alcoholic Heineken for example is not comparable price wise.
If you want a cheap non alcoholic drink, there are lots of alternatives rather than going for a non alcoholic version of an already alcoholic drink.

The process of making a GOOD non alcoholic beer/gin isn't an easy task

I work in the hospitality industry, and have clients who are produce non-alcoholic versions of standard drinks e.g. lager, cider, gin etc.

The production costs of removing alcohol, but maintaining taste, mean these drinks cost more to produce - even with the reduction / elimination of alcohol duty the cost then ends up the same.

Consumers now have more choice when not drinking when out for food/drinks, rather than just a standard coke or cordial - and also research shows that they want to drink something that looks good / replicates what their friends may be having e.g. non alch lager on draught in a pint glass, or a non-alch G&T that still looks like a G&T.

Depends on the quality, cost and process on de-alcoholising the drink I'd have thought.
You can get really cheap - and shitty - non alcoholic wine, but the decent ones aren't a lot different in price to decent tasting ones in the supermarket, similarly seedlip gin is about the same price as a mid quality gin.
there are other components of the price other than tax.

If you only decided you didn't want the drink when it didn't have alcohol, you presumably enjoyed it the first time around.

If you don't like the price, drink something else - tap water is free, or go for bottled water or coke.
In a bar if I don't want an alcoholic drink, I tend to have a can of Dalston's, or kombucha if they stock a good one.

Beers/Ciders usually have the alcohol removed which are additional steps in the process. Many non-alc spirits do not have the alcohol removed as that process can cause flavour loss.

Gordons 0% for example is distillated with water/a very low-alc base, but it is a more complex production process to get the flavour profile without alcohol.

Also, because it doesn't have alcohol in it acting as a preservative it has a shorter shelf life than the alcoholic version, that combined with lower sales means short expensive production runs.