LAPORTE — The small community of Laporte might not be bustling with all the modern amenities, but one local businesswoman is tapping into a growing trend of sober-curiosity.
Mikaela Fisher opened Mrs. Sippi, an exclusively nonalcoholic bottle shop, a little more than two months ago. Fisher, 38, has been a hairdresser for nearly 20 years, running a salon right next door to the shop. She explained she loves her work for making people feel better about themselves.
"I feel that more people like myself are wanting to feel better,” Fisher said during an interview inside her new business. “When I felt bad or down, it was always when I drank alcohol.”
Fisher is among the many entrepreneurs around the world capitalizing on a growing demand for nonalcoholic wine, beer and spirits. Studies by the International Wine and Spirits Record identify millennials and Gen Z consumers, who are increasingly focused on moderation and wellness, as key demographics driving up the demand for low- or no-alcohol beverages. The nonalcoholic beverage sector has seen double-digit increases in the adult beverage market share since the drinks data provider began tracking sales in 2023.
Fisher will celebrate two years of sobriety in May, and said she changed her mindset from the “fear of missing out” to the “joy of missing out.”
"Yeah, there was FOMO when you're not at that party and socializing in that way, with sobriety,” she said. “I truly do believe in JOMO. And I'm OK with staying home with my dogs and my husband, doing my jigsaw puzzle at night and just putting myself to bed. I don't miss any of that. I just felt like it brought nothing but chaos.”
Fisher said she was inspired to open Mrs. Sippi to offer options to others who still want to mark celebratory occasions while keeping a clear head. She also offers a variety of stemware and glasses in her shop.
“Clients are very appreciative, very excited, very curious,” she said. “People are shocked at it. I mean, we went from O'Douls [beer], to now hundreds of options.”
Fisher’s shop is stocked with a wide variety of nonalcoholic beers in several different brewing styles, nonalcoholic spirits like vodka and tequila, and de-alcoholized wine Fisher said she sources directly from wineries and distilleries.
The International Wine and Spirits Record report divides nonalcoholic beverage consumers as either abstainers or “substituters,” suggesting there are many who don’t do an all-or-nothing approach. Fisher said she serves a wide variety of clientele who are looking for something different, whether it’s taking a break from alcohol like “Dry January,” or a more permanent pause.
"Many of our guests have been coming in for ‘dry January’ and so many of them are also saying ‘I feel so good, I might keep going and do dry February,’ and it's amazing,” she said.
Improved health may be a factor for those customers, particularly given recent updates to guidance concerning alcohol consumption. The former U.S. Surgeon General issued a new advisory in January on the link between alcohol and cancer. The warning identifies alcohol as the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity.
Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served in the Biden administration, proposed updating existing health warnings on all alcoholic beverage containers. There were a number of other recommendations to increase awareness of alcohol’s risk factors for seven types of cancers.
While scientific evidence of this link has been building for decades, the Office of the Surgeon General reported that less than half of Americans recognize alcohol as a risk factor for cancer.
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” stated Murthy in the advisory. “This advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”
Fisher said she hopes to expand this summer with more staff and to get involved with community events. She plans to have a nonalcoholic beer tent at the Laporte Lions Fourth of July Celebration and is working through licensing for low-dose cannabis beverages.
"We will never see above 5 milligrams,” she said. "A lot of our customers and guests are businesspeople, people looking to have sleep aid, or help with pain or just a little calmness. Not looking to get high."
Mrs. Sippi has an active social media presence on Facebook and can be found just south of Hubbard County Road 9 on Highway 71.
