Another booming segment is energy drinks. I wonder if these two have a common root, that is a yet-to-be-(re)discovered market for soft drinks marketed towards adults. In the region's early history that niche was occupied by kvass. It is still very popular in ex-Soviet countries, but not so much in the CEE area.

Non-alcoholic ciders seem to have about half the sugar content of Cola. So even for non-light drinkers they can be somewhat better albeit more expensive option.

That's it for me. A lot of the time I drink something alcoholic my requirements actually are just cold (not hot), and not sweet (and other than water). Traditionally that approximately means alcohol! Tomato juice I suppose, iced tea doesn't have to be that sweet, cold brew coffee... But basically it's alcohol.

I do now enjoy 0-0.5% 'beer' sometimes, I think it works best when it's not the kind you drink with alcohol, so it's not disappointingly not quite right. E.g. I like the AF versions of Guinness & Bavaria - I don't really drink stouts or lager.

In the last 15 years or so 0% beer has improved from "sparkling piss" to something passable, I bet this explains at least part of it. Nowadays 0% Heineken is almost as good as regular Heineken - which means it is not that good, but you can keep a bottle in your hands and occasionally take a sip while you try to socialize.

Can confirm. Plus nowadays you can find 0% beers that are actually quite good and very similar in taste to a regular beer. In the past there were really only shifty ones.