The co-founder of one of Australia's most popular breweries has struck gold with a secondary endeavour: non-alcoholic beer.
Jaz Wearin and her husband Grant began Modus Operandi in 2014 on Sydney's Northern Beaches with just $7 and a dream.
Just six years later, the pair noticed the booming zero per cent market in Australia was crying out for more competition.
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They boldly entered the non-alcoholic craft beer category during the COVID-19 pandemic with the launch of Nort.
At this point, zero per cent beer was still a largely unexplored market.
Now, a few years later, Nort has opened its own brewery to bump out its non-alcoholic beverages.
"Since we launched in 2020, the response has been incredible," Wearon told nine.com.au.
"In the early years, demand grew explosively, so much so that we built our own 10 million-litre brewery to keep pace."
There has been a generational shift in alcohol consumption in Australia since Nort launched.
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Non-alcoholic beer now accounts for 10 per cent of beer sales in Australia.
The national non-alcohol category is also expected to deliver double-digit growth by 2028, with a prediction of around 300 million litres sold that year compared to 150 million in 2024.
Wearon said Australians had been desperate for ways to stay sober and remain social.
"It really comes down to choice and balance, people want to enjoy social occasions without the downsides of alcohol all the time," she said of Nort's success.
"That might be for health, sleep, fitness, work performance, family commitments, or just wanting a clearer head the next day.
"Our slogan, 'Enjoy More', really captures that: it's not about giving up, it's about enjoying more of life without having to compromise the social experience."
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While the Australian market is still small, Wearon is confident it will be a huge 2026 for brands in this category.
Nort is competing against the likes of Heaps Normal, Hahn, Asahi and Carlton for space on the non-alcoholic shelf.
But the home-grown brand is the little engine that could: the sales have proven this.
Wearon said January sales are typically several times higher than other months as New Year's resolutions kick in.
"It's very predictable now," she said of the January sales bump.
"In fact, this year we had higher demand than we forecasted, and we were literally brewing Nort up until Christmas Eve to keep up.
"Christmas and the 'silly season' brings a lot of social occasions, so people use non-alcoholic beer as a way to enjoy the moments without the downside of overindulging.
"Then in January, we see that behaviour really kick in, people deliberately choose to cut back or reset after the holidays."
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But sales are no longer tied to big "sober" movements like Dry July, she said.
In fact, non-alcoholic sales now mirror traditional beer sales.
"What we're seeing now is that non-alc beer is mirroring the broader beer cycle, where growth isn't just tied to Dry January or Feb Fast anymore," she added.
"It's becoming ingrained in people's behaviours around the key drinking occasions like footy finals, Christmas, summer holidays, and Easter too."
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