BrewDog USA reaches a new milestone today as the brand announces it has become the first alcohol-free & non-alcoholic (AFNA) certified sales team in the country through the AFicioNAdo™ Certification Program. As the world’s first professional training and certification program focused on alcohol-free and non-alcoholic adult beverages, AFicioNAdo’s educational tools strive to raise awareness and enhance the experience of AFNA beer, wine and spirits for consumers.
As a focus product category, BrewDog celebrated strong growth within the alcohol-free sector in 2023. The new certification further demonstrates the brand’s commitment to serving all customers high-quality, flavorful beer no matter their drinking habits and elevates the brand’s knowledge of the AFNA category, truly engraining the team in brewing trends and evolving customer needs.
“We are heavily invested in taking a leadership position in this category,” shares Eric Franco, Vice President of Sales, BrewDog USA. “Education around the AFNA segment is critical for continued and sustained growth with our wholesalers, retailer partners and the buyers of non-alcoholic beer.”
On the heels of a successful Sober October, BrewDog’s AF Mixed Pack continues to perform above the national trend as the #1 AF Beer Variety Pack in the country in a category that has grown 32 percent to $447 million year over year (Nielsen IQ, Sept. 2023). The coveted box includes three non-alcoholic version of BrewDog’s core beers – Punk, Elvis Juice and Hazy – along with Nanny State, BrewDog’s golden AF ale that launched the brand’s foray into non-alcoholic beer.
Regarding Nanny State and BrewDog’s expansion in the non-alcoholic space, Meagen Anderson, founder and CEO of the AFicioNAdo™ Certification Program, shares, “BrewDog’s non-alcoholic brewing program in the United States precedes most of the recent growth in non-alcoholic beer offerings, which many people do not know. BrewDog’s story of creating Nanny State as one of the lead craft AFNA offerings in the early days showed their breadth and range as a global producer. They have always shared their brewing process in hopes of seeing the AFNA category develop further, and this commitment by Eric Teodoro Franco to training and education of his team as well as distributor and retail partners, demonstrates their continued commitment to long term growth, sustainability and quality as a recognized global brand. We are very proud to be included in their focus to increase BrewDog AF presence in the market.”
More about the AFicioNAdo™ Certification Program can be viewed HERE and BrewDog wholesaler and retailer partners interested in further training in preparation for Dry January and new developments within the AF category can contact Eric Franco (eric.franco@brewdog.com) for more details on how to participate in AFNA training.
