Kamloops couple joins non-alcoholic beverage trend with new mocktail business
Kamloops residents can now easily access, experience, and enjoy a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages thanks to a couple who saw a gap in the market and worked to fill it.
Joey Ippolito and Lindsay Brochu opened Mocktail Mixology last month to provide a range of non-alcoholic wines, beers and spirits, and all the supplies needed for customers to mix their own drinks at their own home bars. So far they’ve received an “overwhelming response from the community.”
“It has been busy, the demand has been amazing, we didn’t realize how much demand there was for these non-alcoholic products,” Ippolito said. “Before us no one was doing it all under one roof here with such a wide variety. The market has been neglected.”
Already the owners of Wine Kitz next door — where customers can ferment wine onsite — the couple expanded to add the new mocktail business in response to the needs of some of their customers, who were choosing lower alcohol lifestyles or were forced to quit drinking for medical reasons.
“There is something for everyone here whether they are cutting back on alcohol, removing altogether or just want to try something new and fun.”
The trend toward non-alcoholic beverage consumption has been on the rise for a couple of years, with the non-alcoholic bar culture already alive and thriving in the lower mainland. Kelowna’s first sober bar called SOBAR opened just two months ago.
A report by the International Wine and Spirits Record released last year predicts no and low alcohol consumption will increase by a third by 2026 in 10 global markets, including Canada.
Millennials are the largest age group opting for the no or low alcoholic beverages across the globe. Younger legal drinking aged drinkers are the biggest group reaching for the non-alcoholic options.
“It has been a younger trend for sure, we’re seeing mostly Gen Z and Millennials,” Ippolito said. “Parents are coming in saying their kids don’t drink as much. It’s a positive thing and now people making a lifestyle change have more choice and variety.”
When asked what he thinks is fueling the trend for lower alcohol and zero alcohol drink options, Ippolito pointed to inclusivity.
READ MORE: Why there may not be any Okanagan ice wine this winter
“Now when someone is at an event they can feel included, carrying a beverage that looks like everyone else’s and no one will be asking why they’re not drinking,” he said. “A lot of people shy away from certain events because they’re expected to drink and they don’t want to. This works for designated drivers too, they can feel like they belong.”
Another positive point is the option to start the night with an alcoholic drink and follow it by a couple of non-alcoholic versions, allowing for a safe drive home.
READ MORE: iN VIDEO: This $12M Peachland vineyard could be a winery or a new neighbourhood
Ippolito said non-alcoholic beverages have come a long way when it comes to taste and tries to bring in the best quality products he can while sourcing as local as he can. Some of the mocktails and mixes are rich in vitamins and antioxidants.
“A lot of the drinks are very similar to their alcoholic versions without the negative side effects of alcohol,” he said. “It’s not going to be the exact same experience, it will be a new experience, a chance to try something new.”
Customers can find non-alcoholic or low alcohol spirits, sparkling wines, regular wines, beer, gin, rum, whisky, tequila and sparkling rose at Mocktail Mixology, for prices similar to those of regular booze bevvies sold in liquor stores.
READ MORE: Where to find snowy winter wilderness escapes in the Thompson-Okanagan
“The wines can be a bit more expensive because they have the extra process of removing the alcohol making the cost a bit higher but then, you don’t have to pay a liquor tax either,” Ippolito said.
Mocktail Mixery is located at 204-1150 Hillside Drive and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Go here for more information.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
