It’s well known that New Zealanders love their alcohol, but a bubbly trio from the Hibiscus Coast want to show that non-alcoholic beverages can still have the same kick – minus the hangover the next day.

Freasy co-founder Richard Bayly believes when it comes to non-alcoholic drinks and especially non-alcoholic beer, they’re the new electric car in a can.

“The electric car environment has changed dramatically as five years ago, people didn’t want electric cars – now they can’t get enough of them,” he said. 

“We believe non-alcoholic drinks are going to be the same.”

A gap in the market

Freasy was co-founded by Richard Bayly, Darren Johnson and Ruben Esterhuyse, with their brainstorming beginning in August 2021, when they went out running together while gyms were shut during the Auckland lockdowns.

Bayly said they saw a gap in the market as while an increased number of options around non-alcoholic beverages were becoming available overseas, the non-alcoholic market offered slim pickings in NZ.

“It was in those moments when we were looking for non-alcoholic options and we felt at the time we went to the supermarkets and there weren't a lot of viable alternatives that really filled the gap for us,” Johnson said.

Bayly said the trio also found a renewed focus on their health after the lockdowns they’d experienced and realised their drinking habits needed to change.

“No one else was increasing the choice and options for people when they want to be more intentional about their relationship with alcohol,” he said.

“We knew if we wanted to actually help other Kiwis also become more intentional about their relationship with alcohol – then we needed to do something about it. 

The trio decided to bite the bullet and jump into their idea before they got cold feet. 

In September, they started the meticulous task of researching the best non-alcoholic beverages, getting in touch with suppliers, importing products and setting up a website from which to sell their wholesale and individual retail orders. 

Full steam ahead

In January of this year, they opened the online store and Bayly and Johnson agree that it’s been full speed ahead since then, with the trio adding 12 new alcohol-free beers from breweries around NZ since the beginning of the year to their stock of 40+, as well as a range of wine, RTDs and spirits.

“Here we are almost a year later and it's blowing up right now,” Bayly said. 

He credits this being down to social as well as commercial change, thanks to breweries wanting to increase the number of non-alcoholic beers in their portfolio and people starting to become more conscious about their intake across the alcohol spectrum.

But Johnson said educating people and the market that non-alcoholic beverages can taste just as good as the alcoholic kinds – and minus the miserable side effects – can be a slow and frustrating process at times due to the misconception around non-alcoholic drinks.

“We're hoping to create a normality around the non-drinking space and bring in enough options that are good options, so people stop questioning non-alcoholic beverages – a great beer doesn’t have to be an alcoholic one,” he said.

“There's really a need to reintroduce the non-alcoholic beverage space to people to get it inspired again.”

Bayly said New Zealanders overestimate their ability to moderate alcohol and it can be a delicate to touchy subject to raise with people. He’s also not sure the country’s relationship with alcohol has gotten better in recent years – but said there’s now more space to discuss people's relationship with alcohol which wasn’t there before.

Covid problems

Bayly and Johnson said it’s been tough running a business in a covid-19 environment. It's not the inflationary issues that are the biggest problem but the shipping costs which have become increasingly higher and meant their imported products have become more expensive to land and sell.

“We've had our own issues with supply chains, with breakages, packaging and freight but that’s all part of the learning curve,” Bayly said.

“Getting the international choice to the New Zealand market is not cheap and easy, but if it helps grow the market and raise the bar then I think that's a good thing.”

Over the last six months, the trio have noticed that people who buy from Freasy for the first time are more likely to buy a second time. 

“So the more we are able to get from those customers, the more conversation we can have in the market,” Johnson said.

There have been a few surprises along the way for the trio as well, but nothing has surprised Bayly as much as people’s willingness to engage with them.

“I've been overwhelmed and blown away by people who haven't drunk alcohol for years, and they find Freasy and just open up to us,” he said.

“It's like these floodgates open and they want to share their story and their journey. And they're so willing to share it.”