Australia's growing thirst for alcohol-free wine and beer

"This stuff is sexy!"

Australian entrepreneur Irene Falcone's enthusiasm is as bright as the labels on the non-alcoholic wine and beer that fill the shelves in her ground-breaking store - Sans Drinks - on Sydney's affluent Northern Beaches.

"This is the first non-alcoholic bottle shop in Australia and I picked a location directly across the road from a major liquor store," she says.

"I am here to disrupt an industry."

The ground is - without question - shifting.

Major Australian brewers are reporting an "explosion" in the popularity of non-alcoholic beer. Retail heavyweights BWS and Dan Murphy's say sales of alcohol-free beer have more than doubled in the past 12 months, making it one of their fastest growing categories.