Sober Girl Society founder launches into no- and low-alcohol drinks market

Millie Gooch, founder of the Sober Girl Society, the UK’s largest online platform dedicated to promoting sobriety among women, has entered into the drinks world with the launch of Sippers, a no- and low-alcohol online store, in a bid to make the category more “accessible” to newcomers, she tells db.

Gooch launched the Sober Girl Society in 2018, and after publishing her book, The Sober Girl Society Handbook, in 2021, has now developed a dedicated no- and low-alcohol online store in the UK called Sippers.

“I hear the challenges of finding no- and low- products first hand from people,” she tells the drinks business. And with an Instagram following of over 46,600, Gooch is in no short supply of women looking for non-alcoholic options.

Gooch, who launched Sippers with co-founder Talia Broederlow, says her Sober Girl Society followers are like a “ready-made audience” for the new venture.

“It’s for people exactly like me,” she says. “It’s for people who are cutting down, trying to drink less, or trying to go totally sober.”

Sippers is essentially a platform dedicated to people who want to avoid scrolling through endless alcohol listings to find the only low-ABV offering.

“When I see alcohol brands bring out a non-alcoholic version, sometimes it feels like it’s a bit of a tick-box exercise,” she says. “Having a dedicated space run by two people who are so passionate about the category makes it easier for us to communicate our message.”

Something else Gooch has on tap? Low-ABV brands keen to capitalise on her platform.

“Over the four years that I’ve been running Sober Girl Society I’ve worked with loads and loads of alcohol free brands, whether that’s through sponsoring our events, or doing content or repurposing their recipes on our blog. And the category has changed incredibly in that time,” says Gooch.

“I always wanted to make Sippers really accessible because it can be confusing, especially these days. So many brands are launching and so many of them are independent brands that nobody’s heard of,” she says. “The idea was to make that process a lot easier for people who are possibly coming into this category for the first time.”

Co-founder Talia Broederlow’s journey into the no- and low-alcohol space was slightly different. After contracting Dengue fever while travelling in Sri Lanka, she was advised by doctors to avoid alcohol for up to a year.

“When they told me that I wasn’t able to have my red wine, I thought ‘what am I going to do?’ So I started looking into non-alcoholic red wines, and came across a lot of amazing products,” Broederlow explains.

Now Broederlow, who has a background in IT and previously worked at e-commerce multinational Alibaba, has turned her skills and attention to the no- and low-alcohol space to plug a “gap in the market” for a platform specifically catered to women.

The site itself endeavours to cut out any unnecessary scrolling. Products are divided into categories, from wine, beer, spirits and RTD cocktails to what the pair are calling “functional” drinks. Gooch defines this category as consisting of “products which give you something that perhaps booze gave you but but without any of the negatives”.

Sippers launched in late November with 180 products, and despite the wide range, its founders are keen to work closely with brands to bring a sense of individuality.

“It’s really important to create a personality for each product that we have, and also the brands that we work with, because I don’t think that there are many online stores or supermarkets that provide that platform for these brands to really express themselves,” says Broederlow.

Gooch and Broederlow have their audience front and centre in this new venture, and their passion for the project is clear to see.

Gooch adds: “It can be so overwhelming to find non-alcoholic drinks in the middle of a supermarket or in the middle of a website that is littered with products. And there are so many properties, like is it 0.0% or 0.5%. Having those things very clearly labelled and understood on the website is really helpful for people. I think that’s where the space is.”