“As we go from Gen X through millennials to Gen Z, each generation is drinking less alcohol”

Hi, and welcome to the future: a toasty-warm, carbon-neutral, plastic-free place where your face has replaced your passport and your car drives itself. Weed is legal, alcohol is hangover-free, weekends last three days and we robots do your admin. We can dream.

Ten long years ago, The Face compiled a set of predictions for the coming decade from a star chamber of hotshot experts. That flesh-and-blood editorial team has long since disbanded but their legacy remains. From now until the first day of the new decade we’re sharing some prognostications (as seen in The Face Volume 4 Issue 002) on love, sex, space, AI, cannabis, mental health and plastic surgery (and more) for the years ahead.

“By 2030 very few of us will make alcohol our first choice. The trend is clear: as we go from Gen X through millennials to Gen Z, each generation is drinking less alcohol. For example, Gen Z is consuming 20 per cent less alcohol than Millennials. Consumers are more health-conscious and are actively seeking increasingly available alter­natives. In the US, some states where cannabis is legalised have already seen alcohol sales drop by 15 per cent. So by 2030 we’ll be demanding healthier beverages that are hangover-free.

“This is where Alcarelle is focusing its efforts. We are targeting an alcohol substitute that mimics the positive and feelgood effects of alcohol – like conviviality – while leaving behind negative aspects such as toxicity and hangovers. At the moment it’s in the development and testing stages and we have a great team of scientists from disciplines including neuroscience, physiology, pharmacology and organic chemistry. There’s significant safety and regulatory work to undertake before we can make an announcement, but we are excited with the progress we’re making.”