Sunrise Beverages has acquired Days Brewing, one of the UK's most widely distributed no and low alcohol beer brands, in a deal that arrives as growth across the broader no/low category slows materially from the double-digit rates recorded through 2024 and early 2025. Days Brewing, founded in 2021, is currently stocked across approximately 3,500 distribution points including Tesco, Waitrose, and Ocado, giving Sunrise Beverages immediate meaningful retail scale in a segment that remains strategically important despite the deceleration in growth.
The No/Low Slowdown
The UK no and low alcohol beer category recorded value sales growth of 21.7 per cent in 2025 — a figure that drove significant investor and brand interest. However, the most recent 12-week tracking period to April 2026 shows value growth of 4.7 per cent, a contraction in momentum that has prompted reassessment across the category. The shift appears to reflect a degree of early-adopter saturation: the consumers most likely to switch from full-strength beer to no/low have largely made that transition, and the remaining market consists of more resistant occasional or occasion-specific converters.
The moderation is not uniform across sub-categories. Lager and pale ale styles continue to attract new entrants and sustain reasonable trial rates, while stout — led by Guinness 0.0, which has performed substantially beyond initial projections — remains a growth exception within the broader picture. Premium positioning is proving more resilient than mid-market no/low, partly because premium buyers tend to be habitual purchasers rather than occasional experimenters.
Why Sunrise Beverages Is Buying Now
For Sunrise Beverages, the acquisition of Days Brewing at a point of category moderation rather than at peak may represent an astute timing decision. Brand multiples in the no/low space were elevated through 2024 as investor enthusiasm ran ahead of underlying consumer data. Acquiring a well-distributed, profitable brand with established retailer relationships at a later stage in the cycle reduces entry cost while retaining the distribution infrastructure that takes years and significant marketing spend to build.
Days Brewing's 3,500 distribution points represent the key asset — particularly the Tesco and Waitrose listings, which function as the primary on-ramp for no/low consumer trial in the off-trade. Hospitality distribution (pubs, restaurants, and hotels) remains a secondary but growing channel for the brand, and Sunrise Beverages is expected to use its existing category relationships to expand Days' on-trade presence.
Islay's 11th Distillery: Laggan Bay Opens
Separately, family-owned spirits firm Ian Macleod Distillers has formally opened Laggan Bay Distillery on Islay, having begun production in April 2026. The opening brings the total number of working whisky distilleries on Islay to 11 — a figure that would have seemed implausible a decade ago when the island hosted seven. Laggan Bay joins recent additions including Ardnahoe (2019) and Portintrua in consolidating Islay's position as arguably the world's highest-density single-malt whisky producing geography.
Ian Macleod, which also owns Glengoyne and Tamdhu on the mainland, has positioned Laggan Bay as a medium-term investment, with spirit unlikely to reach maturity for bottling until the early 2030s. The capital commitment reflects continued confidence in Scotch whisky's long-term global export trajectory despite near-term headwinds.
Spirits Duty and the Industry's Pressure Points
Those headwinds are acute domestically. The Spirits Business reported in March 2026 that the UK spirits industry is questioning its sustainability under another duty increase, following the above-inflation duty escalator applied in the 2025 Budget. Duty on spirits now accounts for a larger proportion of the retail price of a bottle of Scotch than in any comparable major market, a point the Scotch Whisky Association has pressed repeatedly with Treasury without securing a structural change in approach.
For drinks trade buyers and operators, the combination of no/low growth moderation, spirits duty pressure, and a still-evolving consumer health narrative around alcohol creates a complex planning environment for range construction and margin management heading into summer 2026. The acquisition of Days Brewing by a well-resourced buyer suggests confidence in the structural direction of the no/low category even if the growth rate has normalised, which is likely to support continued investment in the segment over the medium term.