Berlin’s answer to an off-license, the humble Späti (or Spätkauf), is the quintessential go-to store for a late-night beer run in Germany. But now one business in Berlin is embracing the practice of “mindful drinking”, becoming the first “sober Späti” in Germany. 

The creators of the “Zero Percent Späti” are no killjoys

The brains behind the business are not trying to replace alcohol; they merely want to make attitudes around drinking alcohol-free beverages more positive. 

Some of the stereotypes that surround the alcohol-free industry lead many consumers to believe that only pregnant women buy alcohol-free products. In fact, of the Zero Percent Späti’s customers, only a small percentage are pregnant, showing that lots of people in Berlin are trying to drink a little more mindfully. 

The alcohol-free market is growing in Germany

In recent years, as health concerns around alcohol and its possible link to certain types of cancer have been unearthed, more people have begun to focus on reducing their intake of alcohol in Germany, particularly by switching from a traditional pitcher of German beer to more healthy alcohol-free beverages instead. 

Large international brands have begun to create new no- or low-alcohol drinks for the market, and there has even been a switch in the hospitality industry as well. There are a growing number of bars and restaurants offering wider ranges of alcohol-free beverages, and even bars, such as “Zeroliq” in the Friedrichshain district of Berlin, that serve nothing but alcohol-free products. 

Alcohol-free set to stay for 2021 

The creators of the Berlin-based Kiosk, Katja Kauf and Isabella Steiner, hold high hopes for the industry in 2021. Steiner recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, “We believe that 2021 will be the year of non-alcoholic beverages”. 

The duo hope to shift the social climate to be more accepting of alcohol-free and to move away from singling out those who want to lower their intake of alcohol.