Emma McClarkin wants the UK to raise its alcohol-free beer threshold from 0.05% to 0.5% as pubs prepare for more than 64 million pints of low- and no-alcohol beer this summer. The British Beer and Pub Association says the change would help investment keep pace with demand.
The forecast is 8 million pints higher than in 2025. The BBPA says no- and low-alcohol beer volume has grown 870% since 2013, a scale that shows the category has moved well beyond a niche line on pub menus.
Emma McClarkin and Luke Boase
McClarkin, the BBPA chief executive, said the government should change the alcohol-free definition to 0.5%. She said that would open the door to greater investment and give drinkers more choice when they want something that fits the occasion.
Luke Boase, founder of Lucky Saint, backed that case with a simple consumer example. “When the sun is out and the football is on, people want to make the most of it, and alcohol-free beer matches the occasion,” he said. Boase also said Lucky Saint experienced an increase in sales during the World Cup.
UK alcohol-free beer rules
Under the current UK definition, alcohol-free beer must be at 0.05% alcohol by volume or lower. Many other countries use 0.5% instead, which is why the BBPA argues the UK rule is tighter than the market it is trying to serve.
The practical effect is on how brewers plan. If a drink can legally sit at 0.5% and still be treated as alcohol-free, brewers have more room to produce it without pushing flavour and cost against a stricter limit. Under the existing rule, the category has less space to expand while consumers are buying more of it.
Department of Health and Social Care
The government has said it is considering changing the threshold at which a drink may be described as alcohol-free. A spokesperson said the government recognises the role no- and low-alcohol products can play in helping people reduce their alcohol intake and in boosting public health.
The same spokesperson said the government has engaged with a range of stakeholders, including the BBPA, and will take other public health considerations into account before updating in due course. That leaves the immediate answer for breweries and pubs in the same place: the market is growing fast, but the rule that shapes how they sell it has not moved yet.
