Bucking the age-old stereotype of hard-drinking college students, Manaka Okamoto considers the next day¡¯s schedule before cracking open an alcoholic beverage.
¡°If I have to get up early, and I think ¡®Oh, I should hold off on drinking,¡¯ then I go for a nonalcohol drink to get a sense of alcohol when I¡¯m drinking alone,¡± Okamoto, 22, said at a Tokyo restaurant. ¡°And of course, when hanging out with friends who don¡¯t drink, it¡¯s nice to have something to toast with.¡±
The popularity of low- and nonalcoholic drinks has risen worldwide, accelerated by the pandemic, which led many people to be more health conscious. The global market value for the segment rose to just under $10 billion in 2021 from $7.8 billion in 2018, according to researcher IWSR.
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