Mindful drinking movement, Club Soda, looking to raise £25,000 to open its first permanent venue this autumn
After seven highly successful years, ten festivals and one pop-up shop, Club Soda is ready to open a permanent home for mindful drinking in London, launching a reward based crowdfunder to help turn this dream into a reality.
Club Soda’s new tasting room, shop and bar will be a permanent fixture on London’s Drury Lane, with space to try alcohol-free drinks and be guided by mindful drinking experts. These experts will also be on hand to help the hospitality sector find the right drinks for their venue.
Club Soda’s crowdfunder campaign will run until 21 October and offers rewards for contributors based around shopping and events in the new venue. It builds on the incredible success of the organisation’s central London pop-up Alcohol-Free Off-Licence, which extended its tenure multiple times to fulfil customer demand.
Club Soda’s new home will also have room for events, workshops and masterclasses, including a continuation of the successful trade masterclasses the organisation launched earlier in 2022. It is also planning a bar space, so you can enjoy a drink in the venue, with cocktails from their in-house mixologist. A library will offer space to dip into quit lit, drink bibles and other resources to give you the skills to drink more mindfully. Eventually, the movement also hopes to be able to offer hotdesking space to fledgling low and no brands.
Club Soda founder Laura Willoughby MBE, says: “The success of our pop-up store in January bowled us over. People loved having the chance to sample alcohol-free drinks and pick the right ones for them. And so many people asked us to stay open for longer. So we want to create a home for low and no in the capital, putting in-store sampling front and centre in our offer. With the support of Club Soda’s members and friends, we want to create a place to drink more mindfully and live well.”
The boom in low and no alcohol drinks has been fuelled by the 25 million people in the UK changing their drinking habits[1]. Not happy to compromise when drinking at home or going out, mindful drinkers of all kinds are reaching for the new wave of alcohol-free beers, spirits, wines and craft sodas. While overall alcohol consumption is expected to have declined in 2020, the low- and no-alcohol market is continuing to expand, with consumption expected to grow 31% by 2024, according to the IWSR.
