It's time to write down my own story. I'm regularly asked if I still drink alcohol. Since January 1, 2025, I haven't. And I'm very happy about it. Do I not have a problem with that? Of course I do. That's precisely why I'm writing this. This blog has two goals. Firstly, sharing my story helps me better cope with moments when I have a craving for a beer or something else. Secondly, I want to help others in a similar situation. I'll start with the title. There are roughly three types of people who quit drinking. The first group has little trouble with it. They never had a drinking problem in the first place and can easily say no. The second group is physically dependent: the heavy drinkers who describe themselves as alcoholics and remain so even if they haven't had a drink in a long time. David Bowie is often cited as an example. The third group lies somewhere in between. These are people who drink regularly, even heavily, but still function normally. No visible problems, no immediate damage. They almost always say, "I don't have a drinking problem." In her book "Since I Stopped Drinking," Evi Hansen writes, "I was absolutely not an alcoholic." I can understand that. I also belong to this third group. I drank regularly and was always on the lookout for delicious drinks. Craft beer was my hobby. Friday was the perfect time to treat myself and wind down after the work week. Did I drink too much back then? After all, I was functioning perfectly fine. Nobody seemed to mind. On the contrary, after a few drinks, I was often more sociable. Nevertheless, I think now that I drank more than was good for me. Sometimes I'd be sitting at home alone on Friday evenings—my wife was at work, the kids were out—and there I was with a craft beer. At some point, it just felt... empty. Alcohol can foster sociability; it can bring people together. But if you need it for that, maybe something's wrong. Why not simply reduce it then? I've tried it often enough. No drinking during the week, only on weekends. But this "weekend" already started on Thursday. And if there was a reason to drink on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, I took advantage of it. That doesn't work for me. The only solution is to not drink any alcohol at all. This is nothing new. For about twenty years, I've abstained from alcohol every year during Lent. But afterwards, I always fall back into my old habits. In 2024, I started "Dry January" and extended it to include Lent. Three months without alcohol. It went surprisingly well. In fact, I was annoyed that I started again afterward. So, in 2025, I decided to stick with it for a whole year. And I'm still doing it. Nevertheless, it's sometimes difficult. I've already mentioned Fridays, but especially the Friday before a long weekend, for example at Easter, feels like a weekend twice as long. Then I take the dog for another walk or cook an elaborate meal, simply to distract myself. Of course I drink non-alcoholic beer then. And I enjoy it immensely. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I pick out a beer in our local shop. It feels good to write my story down like this. And if it also helps you to enjoy life without alcohol more, that's a nice bonus. If you would also like to share your story, we would be happy to provide you with our blog for that purpose.

We have an update regarding the NVWA (Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) fine we wrote about earlier. Last year, we received a fine of €1,565 because we had given too much of a discount on a beer with 0.8% alcohol . According to the rules, anything above 0.5% alcohol falls under alcohol legislation, and restrictions apply to discount promotions. You can read the whole story in our previous blog . In objection Naturally, we lodged an objection against the fine. Together with a lawyer, we drafted and submitted an objection. While preparing our objection, we also found relevant case law. In a case that began in 2021, a wine seller accidentally applied too much of a discount. A bottle of wine was offered for €11.99, while the normal price was €16.80; a discount of 28.63% . The fine: €1,360 . After years of legal proceedings, it was eventually reduced to €340 . You can find the official ruling here . You can find a more readable summary here . Hearing A hearing subsequently took place during which I could explain our objection and answer questions from the NVWA. Normally, the NVWA must make a decision within six weeks after that. However, they requested a little more time for their assessment. Eventually, we received an 11-page letter containing the decision. The core: Decision I declare your objection regarding the amount of the fine well-founded. I revoke the contested decision and reduce the fine amount by 50% to €782.50. For the remainder, I declare your objection unfounded and uphold the contested decision. If you have already paid the fine, you will receive the overpaid amount back with statutory interest. The fine has therefore been halved to €782.50 . And now? After careful consideration, we have decided not to pursue legal action . We maintain that a warning for a first offense would have been more appropriate. Furthermore, we still consider €782.50 to be a disproportionate fine for such a minor mistake. But at some point, you simply have to move on with your business. Another legal procedure costs time, energy, and money, while the outcome remains uncertain. So we are leaving it at this. Case closed.

When it comes to our motto, we like to compare ourselves to other companies. We're similar to Jamin in terms of product range, Hornbach in terms of pricing, and Coolblue in terms of customer service. All these companies have something we want to emulate. And when you combine all these things, you get our motto: Alcohol-free beer. Seriously good. I'd be happy to tell you how we got there. Our motto and values When it comes to our product range, we're very aware of our position. We're a small player compared to the major supermarkets and liquor stores. And we don't want to compete with them. We deliberately continue to specialize in non-alcoholic craft beers, just like Jamin does with candy. We're essentially a niche within a niche. That's why we're always looking for special editions and unique beers. And as soon as a brand becomes big and hits the supermarket shelves, it becomes less interesting for our shop. Although, of course, our international customers can't just get these beers in the supermarket. So that's why you'll still find them regularly in our shop. As an example, I can mention Guinness 0.0 . We were the first in the Netherlands to sell it in our shop. And it's still one of our best-selling beers, despite being available in a few supermarkets. Why? We ship most of the cans abroad, where it's very hard to find, or not available at all. We also offer a competitive price with a 24+2 offer . But of course, our gems are the beers you can find (almost) nowhere else. They're often only sold regionally or are made just once. Because we also import some of our beers ourselves, you'll also find beers you won't find anywhere else in the Netherlands. We're always looking for beers that can enrich our selection and that you, as a customer, will be pleasantly surprised to find. We have all the non-alcoholic beers in our shop. And if we don't have one, we know why not. When it comes to price, we're the Hornbach of non-alcoholic beers. We never discount. We're always very competitive on our prices, year-round, and we'll never rip you off. And if we have beers with a best-before date of less than three months, we put them on sale. You can get them for 50% off. We're doing you a favor and guarantee you'll always have a good best-before date. When we talk about customer service, we often cite Zappos . It's an online shoe store that launched in 1999. Their customer service extends to the point where you can return items within 365 days of purchase, and you don't pay any return or shipping costs. No questions asked. But perhaps Coolblue is a good example. We, too, are a bit quirky and incredibly flexible when it comes to service. We like to treat our customers like friends. We also like to compare ourselves to Apple . We sometimes say that we don't sell beers, but a story or an experience. Nothing beats knowing your beer was made in a special way or with special ingredients. And the story behind the brewery only makes the beer more special. Just like Apple always sells "the story": design, vision, rebellion, simplicity. The product is the means. The experience is the goal. So, a lot of comparisons with other companies. And that means that, all things considered, we have our own identity that stands for something. Our core values are: Specialization: Our market is a niche within a niche. We're focused and not a one-size-fits-all store. Fair pricing: This is always competitive and we don't have a discount circus. Unconditional service: We treat everyone as a regular customer. Experience & craftsmanship: We sell a story, the origin of our beers is important and quality always comes before volume. Our motto is: Alcohol-free beer. Seriously good.