At the end of 2019, Lisa King was experiencing some severe bouts of vertigo she thought might be linked to drinking G&T’s. She stopped drinking to see if it would help, and while there was no medical association between the two, her time alcohol-free led to two surprises; juice or coke were the only quality non-alcoholic option available and the amount of judgement recieved when telling people she wasn’t drinking.
King’s parents brought her to New Zealand from Hong Kong at age two. As immigrants who didn’t know the country or language, they opened a Chinese restaurant in Auckland. King’s entrepreneurial side comes from her mum, who tried her hand at several businesses after opening the restaurant, including property and horse breeding. She then opened one of the country's first Chinese Medical Clinics. Mrs King was always looking for new opportunities and even offered to buy her daughter a business at age 16.
“I outright refused. I decided that going to university and working my way up a big corporate was what I wanted to do.”
King spent 15 years marketing for big companies such as Unilever, Cadbury’s, Fonterra and Heinz Watties, which gave her a deep understanding of FMCG. In 2015 she gave up a corporate career and founded Eat My Lunch. Then during the lockdown in 2020, she started AF Drinks.
The grocery industry has always interested the entrepreneur. King knows it is a challenging environment to enter but believes the visibility of a new category is essential. She loves understanding buyer and consumer behaviour and enjoys a good supermarket shop.
“If we want to change and reduce alcohol consumption and the harm associated with alcohol, then we have to make better alternatives readily available. I think supermarkets and liquor stores need to take on this responsibility.”
King feels lucky that Foodstuffs took a leap of faith and gave her brand some shelf space. It has been a learning curve, understanding where to place the products as they cannot legally sit in the alcohol section and educating consumers. The category has seen impressive growth in less than two years, and there are now dedicated alcohol-free bays in stores.
King wanted to show Kiwis just how much opportunity there was in the alcohol-free beverage space, which led to the original AF pop-up store in July. Over 2,000 visitors saw a collection of the world’s best alcohol-free drinks and King's very own. Several customers asked for a permanent space, so that is what King provided.
The Ponsonby bottle shop opened on Crummer Road on November 18th. Surrounded by great bars and restaurants, it has been the ideal location. The opening week saw 30-40 customers visit each day, and people love having a beautiful space to experience AF and talk about their alcohol-free needs.
“The most popular products are AF (especially our new Grapefruit Margarita, Apero Spritz and Dark & Stormy), as well as the Noughty Sparkling Rose, and there’s been a lot of interest in Kin (the nightcap by model Bella Hadid that we bought in from the US).”
Sales have exceeded expectations everywhere, and the lead-up to Christmas has brought an even bigger boost. King’s main concern at the moment is the increasing number of competitors, but she knows how important it is to stay relevant and different. Things are going so well that she hopes to launch onto the international market next year, but she can’t share many details yet.
Of course, we had to ask what King’s favourite alcohol-free drink is;
“I love the Cucumber G&T and the Grapefruit Margarita. They are just so delicious, and you never feel like you’re missing out.”
