How this Tri-Cities couple opened B.C.’s first non-alcoholic bar

When the clock struck two in the morning, Racquel Foran sprung from her bed. 

She finally had an idea. The idea. 

For the majority of their relationship, she hoped to start a business with her husband, Jim, who had spent 25 years working for a technology company. Foran, meanwhile, had carved out her own path through self-employment: running an office support business, freelance writing, and publishing a national dance magazine. 

But they could never find something they were both passionate about.

She longed to start a café. He wanted to start a popcorn food truck. She toyed with the idea of launching a mobile flower cart, however, there was one business idea in particular that demanded a sober second thought. 

On a weekend last spring, Foran and her husband were chatting and surfing the internet when they came across a story that fascinated them both. 

The article highlighted how the non alcoholic beverage industry was gaining popularity in Canada and across the world. 

“That’s kind of interesting,” Foran said. 

Initially, she didn’t think anything more of the story. It wasn’t until the next morning — when Foran bolted upright 90 degrees in her bed — that she realized they had found their shared business, a non-alcoholic bar. 

Her husband, who had never been much of a drinker, may enjoy the potential to research, sample, and sell non-alcoholic alternatives to similar people who felt peer pressured to drink in social settings, she reasoned.

“I couldn’t fall back asleep,” Foran said. 

“By the end of the weekend, we were absolutely convinced that we were onto something.” 

Explaining why people are holding the alcohol 

The non-alcoholic beverage industry is rising. 

A research firm in the U.S. found that non-alcoholic drink sales south of the border soared by 20 percent in 2022. Beer Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to chronicling brewers and beer drinkers north of the border, reported that non-alcoholic beer sales were growing at a faster rate than alcoholic options.

There are many reasons to explain the interest in non-alcoholic drinks, Foran said. 

Specifically, she said, companies are launching a growing number of non-alcoholic products that are appealing to large groups of people who don’t consume alcohol for various reasons. 

“You have minors, people with health issues, cultures who have allergic reactions to alcohol . . . pregnant women,” she said. “People are becoming more willing to admit they don’t drink alcohol, or substituting with these [non-alcoholic drinks].” 

A 2023 study from Statistics Canada found that roughly one-quarter of Canadians don’t drink alcohol

Foran added that a report published by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction in January, which advised Canadians that no amount of alcohol is safe to consume, may have also swayed people to pursue non-alcoholic options. 

Personally, Foran has not had an alcoholic drink since May. 

She was never a heavy drinker, but Foran did enjoy the occasional glass of wine. However, since she’s tried some of the latest non-alcoholic options, she doesn’t see herself ever craving an alcoholic drink. 

“I’ve accidentally stopped drinking because I’ve been enjoying non-alcoholic wine so much,” Foran said. 

Although distributors are making many tasty non-alcoholic options, their beverages are slowly entering retail spaces in the Lower Mainland. One location in particular, The Drive Canteen, a snack shop based in Vancouver, has experienced a surge of interest in their non-alcohol beverages — even though the store doesn’t solely focus on the drinks. 

“It’s been a huge, tremendous success for them,” Foran said. “They’ve had a difficult time keeping products in stock.” 

As the industry continues to grow, Foran saw potential to open a location that was solely dedicated to non-alcoholic drinks.

“We are going to hop on the wave,” she said.

Making history, one drink at a time 

Bevees is slated to become B.C.’s first non-alcoholic bar when it opens in Port Coquitlam in mid-November. 

Despite the milestone, Foran is not against alcohol. She said she hopes the new bar will allow people who may have avoided social settings or have enjoyed alcohol in the past — like her husband — to get together. 

“We’re not anti-alcohol, we’re pro choice,” she said. 

“I’ve watched [my husband] for 30 years sit in situations where he’d nurse a single beer for an entire event, because there’s peer pressure to drink alcohol. There were never any good alternatives.” 

In total, Bevees will be home to more than 300 non-alcoholic drink options, including mimosas and sparkling white wine. 

But Foran has ambitions to increase that number to 500 within six months. 

The bar will also sell bottles and glassware, and offer drink samples. Down the road, though, Foran said she hopes to open multiple new locations and a truck geared towards non-alcoholic drinks. 

“Imagine if you go to the park and a truck is offering 30 or 40 non-alcoholic drinks as opposed to juice, pop, or water?” she said.

“We’re trying to build something special that nobody’s seen before.”