CRAIG WOODBURN
SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES
“ Brands can’ t fake it anymore,” Yogesh explains.“ Consumers see through greenwashing and genuine ESG commitment is now a must for trust and business success.”
The impact of zero alcohol beverages“ When it comes to alcoholic drinks, we’ re seeing a growing trend towards low and no alcohol products particularly among younger Legal Drinking Age consumers,” Craig explains.“ We have a range of non-alcoholic drinks now that cater to this demand – whether that’ s zero alcohol beers and ciders, or in some of our markets energy drinks, for example.”
Data from alcohol analysis firm IWSR predicts that the no- and low-alcohol beverage category will grow at a volume CAGR of 6 % between 2023 and 2027. It expects that the no-alcohol share of the overall alcohol market will grow to nearly 4 % by 2027. Instead of replacing alcoholic drinks at occasions, IWSR says that no-alcohol drinks are mostly replacing non-alcoholic beverages like soft drinks and water.
The production process to create non-alcoholic versions of traditionally alcoholic drinks adds extra steps.“ It takes more energy and more heat, more processing to produce a nonalcoholic one than an alcoholic one,” he says.“ So you get an impact because of that, and we have to balance that to keep progressing against our own environmental sustainability ambitions.”
Zero alcohol drinks are produced using either de-alcoholisation methods to
CRAIG WOODBURN
TITLE: SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTOR EMEA & APA
COMPANY: MOLSON COORS
HEADQUARTERS: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US
INDUSTRY: BEVERAGE
Craig joined Molson Coors in 2024 after holding environmental and sustainability roles at a number of businesses including JLR and Canon.
“ What matters is that any approach we take balances environmental impact with delivering a workable, effective and fair system, and is something consumers can see value in”
Craig Woodburn,
Sustainability Director, Molson Coors
70 November 2025