Despite abstemious Gen Zs, the booze industry is going strong

he Lucky Saintin central London looks like any other pub. Big wooden barrels double as tables. Bartenders pull pints, But thisisn’t a regular watering-hole.

- The Economist

Though booze is on offer, about 15% of sales at Lucky Saint are of its non-alcoholic beer brand.

Though boozeison offer, about 15% of sales are of Lucky Saint, the nonalcoholic beer brand that ownsthe place. Other paty sip alcohol-free cocktails and sparkling wine. “Gobackacouple of yearsand people used to cleanse in January,” says Nate Roberts, one of the managers, “butnowwesee this365 days per year.”

For the drinks industry, theseseem tobe difficult times. Policymakers in America, Britainand elsewhere are pushing the idea that there is “no safe level” of alcohol intake. Consumersworry that boozeisbad fortheirwalletsas well as their health—especially youngones, whodrink less than earlier generations. No wonder investors say the industry is having a “tobacco moment”: judged by the ratios of share prices to earnings, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Rémy Cointreau, three leading makers of spirits, are lesshighly valued than British American Tobacco. Thelist of sorrowsiscertainly long. But the industry's glass is fuller than youmay think.