Days: Meet the lively pair turning alcohol-free beer into more than a trend
Here we go again – Dry January, the month in which avid pub-goers try to kickstart a healthier year ahead.
You might think that means boom-time for brewers of non-alcoholic beer.
But for Edinburgh-based Days Brewing, it’s just another month; 2023 saw the company sell more than a million of their lager and pale ale lines. Selling a Days every ten seconds in January, however, will probably help boost those numbers.
It’s been quite the journey since quitting their jobs just before the pandemic. It wasn’t ideal timing for the former AB InBev man Mike Gammell and ex-Propercorn marketing chief Duncan Keith: with pubs and restaurants closed and the brand still unlaunched, investors and partners were understandably sceptical.
That called for desperate measures – and commitment. Having signed with a Scottish brewer just before lockdown, the two jumped onto the very last Easyjet flight out of London, to Edinburgh, to work with their brewers through the pandemic and demonstrate they were in it for the long haul.
It worked. They now brew their beers with water from the Lammermuir Hills, just south of Edinburgh, using malt and hops grown locally too.
“What we really saw was an opportunity to create a brand and business that celebrated everything great about beer – ritual, flavour, taste, occasion – but catered to that modern consumer who’s looking for a healthier lifestyle,” Gammell said.
Authenticity
The rapid uptick in the use of social media during lockdown was a big help. Their internal ‘content creator’ is focussed on putting personality and colour into the firm’s marketing, and it works.
“From the start, Days has been about embracing everything great about beer and keeping it relevant to that modern consumer and making alcohol beer free fun,” they said.
Eventually launching in Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado and now Sainsbury’s just last week, Days is focussing on ‘on-trade’ growth after successfully reaching their consumer audience first.
But innovation doesn’t stop there for the lively two.
The next thing they’re excited about? Serving in pints, the “holy grail” of the non-alcoholic beer space, they say.
“That is what normalises the experience, typically in the UK,” Keith said.
“We’re always scratching our heads, thinking, what is the best way for us to be able to give consumers what they want?”
But instead of draught kegs, they found a work-around: introducing the world’s first alcohol-free 568 ml pint bottle.
Resilience and growth
I think one of the things you have to do when you start a business is be resilient… it is not going to be a linear path.
Duncan Keith
“Our sales will double in Dry January from December, but I’m sure the sales will be bigger in February than they were in January 2023 because the category is growing so quickly,” Gammell added.
Waitrose saw a 48 per cent increase in no/low alcoholic sales over the past 12 months, with Sainsbury’s seeing a 38 per cent jump and Tesco up 36 per cent.
It’s no longer just Keith and Gammell running the business by themselves; they have now proudly built a 13-person staff.
The best thing to do? “Hiring people to be better at something than you ever could,” Gammell said.
“That’s one of the most rewarding things for us… watching them do things that we could never dream of doing.”
While expanding internationally is definitely on their minds, the two mentioned the most important thing for Days’ long-term growth is focusing on tomorrow.
Just like their beer, the two emphasise the importance of being “all about moderation.”