As restaurants, cafes, clubs, hotels and small bars have opened so has the demand for non alcoholic beverages.
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Jim Ristevski, of Steel City Beverage Co, said when the COVID-19 lockdown occurred in March orders from the 30 year old business dropped around 45 per cent.
"We are now back up to around 20 per cent less than what we would normally do around this time of year," he said.
"We have the biggest range of non alcoholic beverages in the Illawarra. We had to let go of a couple of guys when coronavirus hit. But the guys are flat out again now and our crew of about 20 are getting overtime now. I think people have realised we have got to live our lives. We have seen how bad it is and we are going to move forward as safely as we can".
Mr Ristevski said as a business it was good to be getting busy again. "We do about 1800 services a month between Sydney and Ulladulla out of our warehouse at Port Kembla".
Mr Ristevski said as few 10 per cent of those clients are probably making money and the rest are just getting by and trying to survive. But it is really heartening for them to see people starting to get out and about in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven again. It gives small businesses who are just hanging on hope.
He said the world is going to be a different place after COVID-19 and ongoing support from the community is increasingly important. In turn businesses such as Steel City Beverage Co give back to the community. Last year Mr Ristevski gave out 4000 bottled drinks to children during the KidzWish Christmas Party.
What Mr Ristevski is experiencing in the Illawarra coincides with sales of non-alcoholic drinks more than doubling in the last year at BWS and Dan Murphy's.
Endeavour Group Buying and Merchandising general manager Adam Fry said it was one of the fastest growing categories according to sales data.
Mr Fry said it was a reflection of a broader trend where consumers are choosing to moderate their beverage consumption.
He said in the last 12 months, sales of non-alcoholic beer, wine, cider, RTD and spirits peaked during Christmas and July, and there was an uplift in sales in March to coincide with customers preparing for Covid-19 lockdown.
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