Analyzing the Non-Alcoholic Beverage Market in Qatar and UAE

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the non-alcoholic drinks market in the UAE, focusing on Seedlip's potential for expansion. It begins with an introduction to the growing demand for non-alcoholic beverages and highlights the market's significant growth. The report then identifies marke...Read More

REPORT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK-1............................................................................................................................................3
Identify where the market is?.................................................................................................4
Identify what the market is ( use marketing theories Ansoff matrix).....................................4
Why has this became a growth area?.....................................................................................5
Define Culture through cultural based definition, psychological based definition and market
based definition......................................................................................................................6
What are different aspects of culture?....................................................................................7
Write a brief background about Qatar....................................................................................7
Evaluate and identify key issues within this culture..............................................................7
What is attitude? Provide 3 definition- cultural, psychological and marketing.....................7
Identify and explain the theories on attitude and apply one theory to Qatar..........................8
Evaluate and identify key issues and what has been done and still needs to be done to change
these........................................................................................................................................8
What is adaptation and standardisation within marketing?....................................................9
Looking at the "non-alcoholic drink" product, what will need to be applied to this drinks..9
market and why?.....................................................................................................................9
What would you recommend to companies looking to expand into this market?................10
TASK-2 .........................................................................................................................................10
What is a changing society and how has the UAE changed over the past 50 years? ..........10
Identify one buying behaviour theory to support the changes in attitudes towards buying non
alcoholic drinks within the UAE..........................................................................................11
CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Non alcoholic drinks are very much in demand in today's time. Due to various needs and
demands of the customers. Various companies have introduced a variety of foam-less malt
drinks. For instance, Seedlip is a UK based company which produces non alcoholic beverages
and is now looking forward to expand its business to UAE. Hence, in order to expand a business
internationally, the respective company needs to undertake many factors which could help in
getting business from the new foreign market. This report will study about various cultural
influences such as language, religion, norm, etc. (Al‐Ansari and et. al., 2016) which affects the
demand of the non-alcoholic drinks of the respective organisation. Additionally, this report will
also analyse various marketing strategies to influence these customer patterns. There are many
problems that are faced by the company while launching the marketing promotions into new
market. Thus, this report will help in understanding various adaptations that are made by
marketing division of Seedlip to attract the customers of UAE.
TASK-1
The Product
A non-alcoholic drink, commonly known as foam less malt drinks in UAE are a variation
of alcoholic drinks which does not include alcohol in them. There are many variables in this
category such as non-alcoholic mixed drink or a virgin drink, non alcoholic beer and mock-tails.
In UK, the licensing law places restrictions on the sale and consumption of beverages with the
alcohol percentage of more than 0.5%.
Companies selling Non-alcoholic beverages
There are many companies that are selling foam less malt drinks such as Herbie and
Diferente which are selling products like Herbie virgin, Herbie Gin, Diferente Aromatic cuvee,
Diferente Ruby Red infusion, etc. These companies have been selling their products through
online portals. Another company dealing into non alcoholic drinks is Seedlip. It is a nature
company which uses natural herbs and other natural products to produce the non-alcoholic
drinks. Seedlip launched its product Selfridges by the name of Seedlip Aromatic Spice 94 in late
2015. The respective organisation has sold many famous products such as Seedlip spice 94,
Seedlip Garden 108, etc. It is a UK based organisation which provides its services in UK, USA

and Canada (Alserhan, 2010). However, Seedlip is now looking up to expanding its business in
UAE market.
Identify where the market is?
The beverage industry in UAE has been observing a significant growth and development
in past few years. This is because of an invariant increase in demands of the customers because
of culture and population growth rate in this particular region. The beverage industry is consist of
many non alcoholic products such as liquid diets, soft drinks, juices, milk, foam less malt drinks,
etc. UAE has an important share in increasing demand of the sector globally (Bladh and Holm,
2013). As per the new market research done by Euromonitor International which is a London
based market research firm, the non alcoholic drinks market size in Middle East is more than
81.4 billion litres, out of which the amount of consumption in the UAE market was 1.9 billion.
Hence, this shows a huge scope of market share for the non alcoholic products of Seedlip
(UAE’s Beverage Industry is Set for a Booming, 2016).
Identify what the market is ( use marketing theories Ansoff matrix).
The non alcoholic drinks has a huge market. There are many variables available in
different flavours in order to satisfy the customers. However, there is a gap in the market which
can be turned as an opportunity by Seedlip in order to attract more customers and maximise its
profit. Thus, Ansoff Matrix can help in analysing new market and developing new products. This
method reflects 4 strategies which can help in the growth of the respective company.

 Market Development- This element of Ansoff Matrix focuses on new areas of market to
promote the existing products of the company. Hence, Seedlip can assure the scope of
growth in the new market such as UAE by taking certain steps (Board, 2012). The
respective company can plan different sales channels such as direct selling, online
portals, etc. Additionally, Seedlip can practice market segmentation to target various
groups of customers based on different aspects such as age, gender, demographics and
many more.
 Market Penetration- This device helps in promoting the existing products in the existing
market. In order to achieve it, Seedlip can develop new marketing strategy to enhance its
sales by encouraging more people to buy their products. The respective company can also
launch various discount and other offers to attract more customers.
 Diversification- This method concentrates on selling new products to a completely new
market place. This is one of the most risky method to expand the business. Hence,
Seedlip can introduce new flavours in alcohol free drinks or launch new budget friendly
products in UAE which will work as an advantage as only one business will face the
consequences rather than all.
 Product Development- This involves introducing new product to the existing market in
order to retain the customers and cop up with the competitors in the market. Hence,
Seedlip can introduce new variants in the market areas that are already explored by the
company such as UK, USA and Canada (Carnevali and Degrossi, 2015).
Why has this became a growth area?
The shifting interest pattern of customers towards the non alcoholic beverages along with
the increasing low liquor or non alcoholic drinks preferences has lead to boom in the foam less
malt drink demand. Additionally, the customers are more aware about the health issues which are
caused by alcoholic. This can help in growth of the industry.

The young individuals are preferring more variety of non alcoholic drinks. According to
the report by Beveragedaily 2016, various Middle Eastern countries have less liquor content than
comparing it to other countries (UAE’s Beverage Industry is Set for a Booming, 2018). This is
due to increasing preferences and awareness of the customers towards non-alcoholic drinks.
Additionally, due to forbidden liquor consumption in Islam, Seedlip have a great opportunity to
expand their non-alcoholic drink business and provide substitute of the alcoholic products to the
UAE customers.
Define Culture through cultural based definition, psychological based definition and market
based definition.
Culture is an accumulation of knowledge, belief, experience, values, religion, concept of
the universe and many more possessions that are acquired by group of individuals in the
pedagogy of generations.
Culture as psychological can be stated as a study of how different cultures reflects and
help in shaping the psychological processes of different people. The theory believes that mind
and culture are inseparable and mutually constitutive which means that the people are shaped by
their culture and culture is shaped by the individuals.
Culture as market can be described as a particular type of marketing which is geared
towards promoting a product or a message to a particular group of potential customers based on
their demographics or cultural beliefs.

What are different aspects of culture?
There are many different aspects which reflects the belief and culture of the people. Some
of these are art, music, language, food, daily life, religion, and many more. However, the key
aspects that affects the demand of the non-alcoholic drinks can be lifestyle, religion, eating and
drinking habits, etc. (Rajabzadeh, 2011) For example, UAE is a multi cultural middle east
country where the ratio of Muslims are more. This increases the demand of non-alcoholic drinks
in that area.
Write a brief background about Qatar.
Qatar is a country which is located in Western Asia. The total population of the
respective country was approx. 2.6 million people which was calculated in 2017. The official
religion of the country is Islam and the official language is Arabic. Additionally, the country has
the highest per capita income in the whole world. Qatar is categorised as the high human
development country by UN. Additionally, it is also denoted as a high income economy which
means that the spending power of the citizens in Qatar is high (Jacob et. al., 2013). As it is one of
the most developed country, the lifestyle of the people is very fast and advanced.
Evaluate and identify key issues within this culture.
Qatar is a developed country. However, there are some key issues which can be faced by
Seedlip company while expanding their business. These cultural hurdles are mentioned below:
 Language- The official language that is spoken in the country is Arabic. Though, English
is too spoken by some people but it is not known by all of the people of the country.
Thus, Seedlip needs to hire a language interpreter which can help in conveying the
messages to the customer.
 Religion- UAE is an Islamic country which means that they the people do not prefer
consuming alcoholic drinks. In this case, it is important for Seedlip to educate the
customer about non-alcoholic drinks in order to promote the consumption of the
products.
What is attitude? Provide 3 definition- cultural, psychological and marketing.
Attitude: A tendency to respond positively or negatively towards certain thoughts, ideas,
object or situation. Attitude influences an individual's behaviour in terms of their choice of
action, response towards challenges and role they faces. In other words it can be define as an

expression of individual on favourable or unfavourable assessment of a person,place, things or
circumstances.
Cultural Attitude: A propensity to response or relate something which belongs to a
specific culture as well as society where an individual has their own way of living standards and
customs. Cultural attitude also refers to beliefs, values, tradition etc..as these differ from
individual or group of people (Melewar, Turnbull and Balabanis, 2000).
Psychological Attitude: In terms of psychology, psychological attitude state set of
emotions, beliefs or character of a person. Attitudes are often result in experiencing the
powerful influences on human behaviour.
Marketing Attitude: In terms of marketing context, attitude is define as general
assessment of a product and services. It help to enhance the buying habits of consumer as well
as providing benefit to firm by fulling their object. A consumer can also hold positive and
negative behaviour or feelings towards a product and services.
Identify and explain the theories on attitude and apply one theory to Qatar.
The main and commonly used theories of attitudes are Functional Theories and Social
judgement Theories. These theories are discussed below:
Functional Theories: A functional theory of attitude based on the ideas to satisfy certain
psychological function, e.g. need or goals of an individual. This theory also reflects the
underlying motives of a person and sometimes referred as motivational approach.
Social judgement Theories: Social judgement theory is a framework that help us to
study the human behaviour. By evaluating the perception of an individual in current attitude.
Therefore, it can be clearly understand that the social judgement theory is best suitable
for Qatar as it is consist of different culture, lifestyle and religions (Mohan and Sachdeva, 2014).
Hence, this method help in understanding different social background of the customer and will
help in identifying the social differences of the country.
Evaluate and identify key issues and what has been done and still needs to be done to change
these.
There are many problems which can be stated while understanding the attitude of the
customer. These are as follows:
 It is dependant on the opinions of others.
 It is not possible to satisfy everyone's opinion.

 The thoughts and opinions are subject to change with time. Hence, they cannot be trusted
for long term plans of the company.
What is adaptation and standardisation within marketing?
Standardisation is known as a cost saving strategy. It is consist of using the same range
of products which are served by the company, same pricing, location and promotion strategies.
The principle behind the standardisation of marketing products is related to blending of
consumer customer's needs and demands. The global standardisation is the ability of the
company to use the standard marketing strategy ( Williams and et. Al, 2013).
Adaptation is a marketing strategy which focuses on changing various elements of
products and services of the company according to the demand of international market and
customers. It helps in meeting the differences of domestic markets at many levels. It focuses on
enhancing the product design, functions and capabilities according to the new market.
Looking at the "non-alcoholic drink" product, what will need to be applied to this drinks
market and why?
According to the cultural and other aspects, the adaptation strategy can be applied by the
company which will help to overcome various differences.
Adaptation Aspects UK UAE
Product Modification Seedlip is a UK based
company which is why the
products does not need any
modification because of the
existing market share of the
company.
Seedlip company need to
consider some product
modification in order to attract
the people of UAE. For
example, the product name and
description should be printed
in Arabic in order to facilitate
the customers.
Religion Barrier UK is a multi cultural country
where the maximum number
of people are Christian. Thus
there is no religious barrier
that restricts the customers.
The maximum number of
people in UAE are Muslims.
This is why, Seedlip needs to
educate and promote the non
alcoholic drinks efficiently to

attract maximum number of
customers.
What would you recommend to companies looking to expand into this market?
There are certain points that needs to be taken care while providing foam less malt drinks
in UAE. These are as follows:
 The spending power of the customer is high, hence the price of the products can be re
framed.
 The demand of the product is affected by the lifestyle and cultural background of the
people of the country.
 Various variety of flavours can be launched in order to provide more options and attain
more sales.
TASK-2
What is a changing society and how has the UAE changed over the past 50 years?
UAE traditionally focuses on the marine activities such as fishing and collect pearls. In
the mid 20th century the discovery of the oil mines change the UAE's economy and become the
richest nation in the Muslim world. In the UAE only 19% are inhabitants are local emirates and
the large population are expatriates (Melewar, Turnbull and Balabanis, 2012). It is the most
socially liberal country in the middle east. Prosperous outlook and large economic opportunities
in addition with religious and historic influences make the UAE the centre for ease of doing
business .Today the UAE business is thriving business hub and enhance its economy and offers
immense opportunities for foreign investment. Emirates rich culture is the first and foremost step
for effective business in the UAE.
Buying habits of UAE in non alcoholic drinks:
In UAE the consumers have been cut down their expenses on alcohol. Consumers drink
for financial and health reasons and this give a gigantic opportunities for low alcohol products .
Negative taste perceptions,health issues and limited promotional support are reasons to adopt the
non alcoholic drinks,because they are pessimistic about their future financial positions. In UAE
people adopts the non alcoholic drinks because it is illegal to sell, possess and drink and for

consumption licence is obligatory for expatriates and local masses. if some one found without
licence culprit should be punish. And the process of acquire the licence is very tedious process.
Identify one buying behaviour theory to support the changes in attitudes towards buying non
alcoholic drinks within the UAE.
The EKB model lays out four step process that consumer use when making a purchase :-
Collecting information : The Consumers in UAE are concerned about the health,before
purchasing a product. In this stage consumers absorb most of the information from the
television ,newspaper or online .They collect the information ,analyse the macro environment
factors affecting the attitudes towards buying products. After collecting the information it is
found that the consumers in UAE are shifting their preferences to healthy products ,their demand
for non alcoholic drinks is ever-changing (Al-Ansari, 2014).
Central Control Unit:Once the UAE consumer collects the data he moves to the
information processing,where he compares the product with past experiences .Consumer in UAE
have compared the market share of non alcoholic drinks and the market share of juice ,it was
found that the share of juice market is around 100% led to total decline in the consumption of
non alcoholic drinks. As people in UAE are more concerned about their health they have
compared drinks with juice to determine the future market share of the product.
Decision Making Process:The consumer makes the final decision to purchase a product.
UAE consumer makes the final decision after proper analysing the substitutes. There are many
substitutes for non alcoholic drinks like Mediterranean, zingy lemon peel,ginger and lemongrass.
Consumers have been cutting back on the non alcoholic drinks as people are concerned for
health and financial reasons (UAE, 2018) .Limited promotional support, negative taste
perceptions, mainly the economic conditions prevailing in UAE has influenced the attitude of
consumer towards buying non alcoholic drinks.
External influences: The environmental factors which influence the consumer purchase
decision are income , culture, family ,social class and physical situations. Hence, it is important
for the company to understand these factors to increase the profit levels of Seedlip.
CONCLUSIONS
From the discussion above, it can be concluded that the market of non-alcoholic drink is
vast. There is a huge scope of growth in this industry. Additionally, UAE is a good market to

expand the business. There are various aspects that affect the demand of the respective product
such as culture, lifestyle, spending power, competitors, etc. Furthermore, there are many
marketing methods that needs to be applied in order to satisfy the customer such as adaptation.
Along with culture, the attitude of the customers also plays a major role in increasing the number
of sales of the company. The EKB theory helps in understanding the buying behaviour of the
customers.

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