The impact of introducing alcohol‐free beer options in bars and public houses on alcohol sales and revenue: a randomised crossover field trial

De‐Loyde, K, Ferrar, J, Pilling, M.A, Hollands, G.J, Clarke, N ORCID: 0000-0003-2375-4510, Matthews, J.A, Maynard, O.M, Wood, T, Heath, C, Munafò, M.R and Attwood, A.S (2024) 'The impact of introducing alcohol‐free beer options in bars and public houses on alcohol sales and revenue: a randomised crossover field trial.' Addiction, 119 (6). pp. 1071-1079.

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Abstract

Aims: The study aimed to estimate the impact of introducing a draught alcohol‐free beer, thereby increasing the relative availability of these products, on alcohol sales and monetary takings in bars and pubs in England. Design: Randomised crossover field trial. Setting: England. Participants: Fourteen venues that did not previously sell draught alcohol‐free beer. Intervention and comparator: Venues completed two intervention periods and two control periods in a randomised order over 8 weeks. Intervention periods involved replacing one draught alcoholic beer with an alcohol‐free beer. Control periods operated business as usual. Measurements: The primary outcome was mean weekly volume (in litres) of draught alcoholic beer sold. The secondary outcome was mean weekly revenue [in GBP (£)] from all drinks. Analyses adjusted for randomised order, special events, season and busyness. Findings: The adjusted mean difference in weekly sales of draught alcoholic beer was −20 L [95% confidence interval (CI) = −41 to +0.4], equivalent to a 4% reduction (95% CI = 8% reduction to 0.1% increase) in the volume of alcoholic draught beer sold when draught alcohol‐free beer was available. Excluding venues that failed at least one fidelity check resulted in an adjusted mean difference of −29 L per week (95% CI = −53 to −5), equivalent to a 5% reduction (95% CI = 8% reduction to 0.8% reduction). The adjusted mean difference in weekly revenue was +61 GBP per week (95% CI = −328 to +450), equivalent to a 1% increase (95% CI = 5% decrease to 7% increase) when draught alcohol‐free beer was available. Conclusions: Introducing a draught alcohol‐free beer in bars and pubs in England reduced the volume of draught alcoholic beer sold by 4% to 5%, with no evidence of the intervention impacting net revenue.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	alcohol, alcohol-free, draught beer, public health, revenue, sales
Divisions:	School of Sciences
Date Deposited:	16 Apr 2024 08:30
Last Modified:	05 Jun 2024 17:35
ISSN:	1360-0443
URI / Page ID:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/16172

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