The CEO of Heaps Normal says when the business set its sights on the alcohol-free wine market, it chose patience over pace, refusing to launch until it believed the product met its own standards.
The Australian alcohol-free drinks company has launched its first non-alcoholic prosecco, High Hopes, after what CEO Andy Miller says was years of research and development before the team felt confident putting the Heaps Normal name on the bottle.
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In a LinkedIn post announcing the launch, Miller shared the moment that stood out wasn’t a sales milestone or a distribution deal. It was an email from John Gledhill, the former head winemaker at the Australian Wine Research Institute and a collaborator on the project.
Image: LinkedIn/Andy Miller
According to Miller, Gledhill described High Hopes as the best non-alcoholic product created during his time at the institute, and the best alcohol-free wine he had tasted.
For a company that has built its reputation on challenging perceptions of alcohol-free drinks, it was the endorsement it had been working towards.
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Protecting the brand came first
Since launching in 2020, Heaps Normal has grown from a startup challenger to one of Australia’s most recognisable alcohol-free beverage brands. Rather than positioning itself as a wellness product, the independent business has built its identity around music, pubs, surfing and shared experiences, encouraging moderation without sacrificing the social side of drinking.
That approach has fuelled rapid growth. Its beers are now stocked nationally, and earlier this year the company expanded into the US through retailer Whole Foods.
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But despite that momentum, Miller said the team refused to rush into wine.
“Non-alc wine is a category where punters have been settling for grape juice with a fancy label,” he wrote. “We decided we wouldn’t put our name on anything that didn’t clear the same bar as our beer. It took the team years of R&D to get there.”
For many consumer brands, extending into adjacent categories is a natural way to grow. Heaps Normal appears to have taken the opposite approach, prioritising trust in the brand over getting a new product to market quickly.
Learning the rules before bending them
While the launch introduces a new product, Miller’s post also offers a glimpse into the company’s approach to innovation.
He credits what the team internally calls “play”, describing it as learning the traditional rules of winemaking well enough to bend them without breaking them.
“It wasn’t random, not trivial, and rarely a solo effort,” he wrote.
Instead, the team worked alongside experienced winemakers, including Gledhill, to rethink how a non-alcoholic wine could be made without sacrificing the qualities people expect from a good prosecco.
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A bigger step than a new product
High Hopes is Heaps Normal’s first move beyond beer, signalling an evolution for a company that has long described its mission as changing drinking culture rather than simply selling beverages.
Whether that eventually leads to a broader range of alcohol-free drinks remains to be seen, but the launch suggests the business sees opportunities beyond the category that made its name.
Miller finished his post with a line that captures the company’s outlook.
“At a time in the world where you could be forgiven for waving the white flag and surrendering to the status quo, optimism is a defiant act. Aim higher.”
Dining and Cooking