JOMO Club Relocate As They Grow The Business
Since the UK’s alcohol-free spirit subscription box, JOMO Club’s launch in 2021, they have seen significant shifts in drinking behaviours and mindsets. Founder Gemma Mills says “The progress in two years among consumers has been astonishing. The UK has such an engrained drinking culture that was starting to change, but has really excelled in 2023 it feels. People are truly starting to assess their own relationship with alcohol and the impact drinking has on their own lives, while others are really starting to accept these changes having a snowball effect on everyones drinking.”
Gemma who now classifies herself as a mindful drinker started to assess her own relationship with alcohol in 2021 before launching JOMO Club and has cut back significantly year on year. “There is still work to be done on mindsets but after seeing the changes I think this will happen in time. More restaurants and bars are offering quality alcohol free options which reduces a lot of the awkwardness around not drinking, along with more people embracing alcohol free drinks at home. Social pressures and comments when you don’t drink often come from years and years of social drinking and the abnormality of not having a drink in hand. I believe the power of alcohol free drinks are huge and instrumental in changing drinking behaviours.”
Core reasons for rapid drinking changes
The Pandemic. This is a huge point of change in society. We were forced to step away from our daily lives and strip it back to basics. No socialising, no commuting and a huge focus on our health. Being hammered on the News every day about health, many realised that health is all we’ve got! Many started to realise why and when they drunk, changing behaviours slowly.
Freedom. When we were allowed out again, many had a few heavy alcohol binges to celebrate. After a few years of changing relationships with alcohol, many realised they had fallen right back into previous patterns and that didn’t quite fit their new lifestyle.
Demand. With more people asking and looking for alcohol free options, restaurants, bars and supermarkets started offering alternatives that actually serviced demand and created full menus around this. There was a change in mindset from ‘We won’t make any money from non drinkers’ to ‘If we offer serious alcohol free alternatives, people will spend and order them as opposed to not coming at all or drinking soda water.’
Innovation. Following all of these, innovation continued in the alcohol free space bringing new, quality, sophisticated alternatives to appeal to all taste. The market had to improve leaving no room for the poor options out there. As a result, people started enjoying and trying more.
2022/3 Financial Crisis. Uncertainty about rising bills all round created concern and many took a look at their finances reducing spend. This meant less pub visits and therefore less drinking.
Given the significant change in behaviours and in turn growth of the alcohol free sector, JOMO Club are uniquely positioned to drive this sector forward, both supporting alcohol free brands in the market, while guiding consumers to the best tasting, highest quality alternatives in the market. Starting in a family unit as a family operation, JOMO Club were hand packing every single order up until November 2023 - complete with Founders Gemma and Richard, Gemma’s Grandma and Mum Betty and Carole, Richards Dad, Mum and Aunty, Richard Snr, Debbie and Jackie, along with some guest appearances from JOMO blogger Kathryn and friend Lisa.
After a family relocation, Gemma made the much needed decision to finally outsource packing. Gemma says “I love to control everything. Every single detail of where the item goes in the box, the tape and label positioning and loading them by hand onto the DPD truck. Every customer makes us who we are and for me it was important to make sure they received the best experience possible. Once we found out we wouldn’t be able to use the JOMO unit anymore, I took this as a chance to weigh up the opportunities. Control is good, but as we started to see significant growth, it also meant small mistakes and no time to focus on the business. I made the decision to outsource our packing so I could focus my time on making the items in the box along with the cocktail recipes, the best they could be! So, as of November 2023 we will have a team packing and sending out our boxes. We make this decision for our customers and to keep growing JOMO Club”.