NON

The idea for NON was born in November 2017, after Aaron Trotman and his wife Miranda visited fine-dining restaurants in Europe and experienced temperance pairings, including one at The Clove Club in London. Trotman noticed that the non-alcoholic mocktails at Michelin-starred restaurants were often more creative and interesting than the fine-wine pairings Miranda received. Earlier travels shaped the outlook: inspired by Anthony Bourdain, Trotman began traveling the world with Miranda in 2010 in search of the best food they could find.^[1],[2]

NON originated from a small kitchen in Melbourne. To formulate the right combination of ingredients, Trotman drew on his earlier experience developing cosmetics. After three months and 50 iterations, he developed his initial product and tested it by bringing bottles to restaurants in his car. The brand launched in July 2019.^[1],[3]

NON initially marketed to Australian fine-dining restaurants before expanding focus to the US market. According to the Business of Drinks podcast, NON bootstrapped initially, then received a $100,000 investment from co-founder Josh, who had a hit song. The same source reports that NON raised significant capital in February 2021 after nearly running out of money, with Trotman borrowing $20,000 from a staff member to cover the last payroll before the investment closed. In 2023, NON opened NONHQ, described by the company as the world's first alcohol-free cellar door.^{[1],[2],[3],[4]}

Aaron Trotman — Founder. Aaron Trotman is the founder of NON, a serial entrepreneur from Melbourne, Australia, who describes himself as a 'food explorer' and has a background in luxury products and a passion for fine dining. His background is in consumer packaged goods in the cosmetics industry rather than the culinary world. Before founding NON, he worked as a DJ for ten years, owned barbershops, and ran a men's hipster cosmetics brand. His mentor was the late Richard Gonano, the cosmetic chemist behind brands including Aesop and Kevin Murphy. Trotman was named a Trailblazer in Drinks Producers, Retailers, Advocates by Melbourne Food & Wine at Maison Bâtard. He also spent five years developing the NON Stopper to prevent waste and maintain product freshness after being unable to find a suitable market solution.^[1],[3]

Kitchen & Beverage Team. NON's production process was designed by a team including chefs, bartenders, food scientists, and winemakers, which the company refers to as its team of alchemists. Nick Cozens, Head of Kitchen, has a background as a chef and cocktail bartender. NON's head of beverage, Nick, oversees recipe development and production scaling from bench-top to 7,500-litre tanks.^[2],[5]

Ben — Chief Growth Officer. NON's Chief Growth Officer, Ben, is a former Treasury Wine Estates executive who served as CMO of the Southern Hemisphere for Treasury. As of the February 2025 Business of Drinks podcast interview, NON had a team of 15 people in Australia and 3 in the US, with plans to add five to six more US staff within three months.^[3]

NON builds non-alcoholic beverages from scratch using real ingredients to replace ethanol, rather than dealcoholizing wine. The beverages are designed from real ingredients using culinary techniques rather than simply removing alcohol, and NON does not use conventional winemaking methods such as pressing, fermentation, or ageing. NON positions its beverages as zero-alcohol wine alternatives and food-pairable drinks for the dining table, coining the term 'wine alternative' as a category descriptor. The company describes its products as 'infusion blends' that define their own category, distinct from alcohol-free wine, while sharing complexity and balance of flavours.^[1],[2],[6]

NON prioritises local Australian ingredients wherever possible and uses only natural ingredients, never artificial ones. Its techniques and ingredients have been influenced by European fine-dining kitchens. Each product went through approximately 30 to 40 iterations to get the flavors right before scaling. NON has a strong on-trade focus and is positioned on the wine list at restaurants, targeting fine-dining and sommelier-driven occasions.^[7],[8]

NON's branding is intentionally dark, minimal, and space-age in aesthetic, with the color of the drink as the primary visual hero in photography, and no wood or pastoral imagery on its Instagram. The branding was developed by a Melbourne-based agency called The Company You Keep.^[3]

NON produces a chef-crafted range of alcohol-free wine alternatives at 0.0% ABV, offered in both still and sparkling varieties. Each is presented in a 750 ml wine bottle with a crown-capsule closure rather than a twist top, intended to be served in a wine glass, and includes tasting notes and suggested food pairings. The core range comprises NON1 Salted Raspberry & Chamomile, NON2 Caramelised Pear & Kombu, NON3 Toasted Cinnamon & Yuzu, NON5 Lemon Marmalade & Hibiscus, NON7 Stewed Cherry & Coffee, and NON9 Oaked Blackberry & Plum. Of these, NON3 and NON9 are still, while NON1, NON2, NON5, and NON7 are sparkling.^[3],[4]

The first three products were NON1 (Salted Raspberry & Chamomile), NON2 (Caramelised Pear & Kombu), and NON3 (Toasted Cinnamon & Yuzu). NON1 is NON's bestseller, making up 45% of global volume. NON8 Torched Apple & Oolong, the eighth release in the range, was NON's first new expression since the brand launched, released in 2023 and developed over two years in close collaboration with Head of Kitchen Nick Cozens; it joined seven existing bottles that had been eighteen months in the making.^[2],[3]

NON also sells curated multi-bottle packs including The Spice Set, The Spring Set, The Everyday Set, The Stopper Set, a Mixed 6 Pack, and a Mixed 6 Stopper Pack. Each bottle is certified vegan and gluten-free and made from plant-based ingredients.^[4],[9]

NON's key wine-alternative formula is built around four flavor markers: fruit, tannin, salt, and acid. Whole fruits and vegetables serve as the lead taste pillars in each infusion blend; tea or spices and fruit skins supply tannin; Murray River salt or olive brine supplies salinity; and verjus supplies acidity. The company follows a perfumery approach, cooking layers of flavors into a verjus base, and preparing a single batch can take days in the kitchen.^[7]

Verjus base. Verjus from the Barossa Valley, South Australia, forms the base of all NON infusion blends and provides their acidity. The company sources verjus from chardonnay and semillon grapes from the Barossa Valley. NON1, NON2, NON3, NON5, and NON7 use verjus from Semillon grapes from the Barossa Valley, while NON9 uses verjus sourced from Viognier grapes from the Goulburn Valley.^[2],[10]

• NON1 Salted Raspberry & Chamomile — Semillon verjus, Barossa Valley
• NON2 Caramelised Pear & Kombu — Semillon verjus, Barossa Valley
• NON3 Toasted Cinnamon & Yuzu — Semillon verjus, Barossa Valley
• NON5 Lemon Marmalade & Hibiscus — Semillon verjus, Barossa Valley
• NON7 Stewed Cherry & Coffee — Semillon verjus, Barossa Valley
• NON9 Oaked Blackberry & Plum — Viognier verjus, Goulburn Valley

Freeze-drying (lyophilisation) & dehydration. NON uses freeze-dried fruit, a process that removes water and oxygen to lock in maximum flavour and nutrition. In NON1, Tasmanian raspberries are freeze-dried to preserve their shape, colour, flavour, and nutritional content, with the process removing 85% of water molecules to concentrate flavour; each bottle contains at least one full punnet of freeze-dried raspberries, with raspberries alone costing approximately $10–12 per bottle. Dehydration is used in NON3, where oranges are dehydrated for 48 hours to remove water molecules and create caramelised, candied orange flavour. NON8 was developed with a freeze-dried apple technique to create a high-minerality, high-acidity, bright and fresh beverage.^[2]

• NON1 Salted Raspberry & Chamomile — freeze-dried Tasmanian raspberries (85% water removed; ≥1 punnet per bottle)
• NON3 Toasted Cinnamon & Yuzu — whole oranges dehydrated 48 hours
• NON8 Torched Apple & Oolong — freeze-dried apple

Roasting, stewing & caramelising. Roasting and stewing intensify sugars across the range. In NON2, in-season pears are roasted, and the drink is produced as a large seasonal batch with pears roasted and steeped in a water tank overnight to extract their sugars. In NON7, a cherry and spice mix is stewed in the oven for two hours to create a jam blend of bloomed spices and caramelised cherries. In NON9, plums and beetroots are roasted separately to intensify their sugars.

• NON2 Caramelised Pear & Kombu — roasted in-season pears steeped overnight in a water tank
• NON7 Stewed Cherry & Coffee — cherry and spice mix oven-stewed 2 hours
• NON9 Oaked Blackberry & Plum — plums and beetroots roasted separately

Steeping, infusion & hot extraction. Steeping and hot extraction draw flavour, tannin, and mouthfeel from skins and botanicals. NON1 uses cold steeping for the raspberries to maintain fresh flavour rather than a jam-like sweetness. NON3 undergoes a 5-hour infusion of orange pith to add a bitter component, while orange skin adds a waxy mouthfeel that coats the palate; its whole dehydrated oranges, toasted cinnamon, and yuzu are blended and steeped in filtered water. NON7's coffee outer husk (cascara) is cooked overnight in hot water. In NON9, French oak and red wine skins are cooked at very high temperatures to extract maximum tannin.

• NON1 Salted Raspberry & Chamomile — cold-steeped raspberries
• NON3 Toasted Cinnamon & Yuzu — 5-hour orange-pith infusion; blend steeped in filtered water
• NON7 Stewed Cherry & Coffee — coffee husk cooked overnight in hot water
• NON9 Oaked Blackberry & Plum — French oak and red wine skins cooked at very high temperatures

Dry-hopping & cold brew. Borrowed brewing techniques contribute tannin and finish. NON5 is dry-hopped using Eclipse hops and spices to provide tannin, and its blend also carries citra hop. NON7 uses cold-brew coffee to provide a chocolate finish and add tannin.

• NON5 Lemon Marmalade & Hibiscus — dry-hopped with Eclipse hops and spices; citra hop in blend
• NON7 Stewed Cherry & Coffee — cold-brew coffee for chocolate finish and tannin

Kitchen-derived methods & processing. NON's production process is based on fine-dining kitchen techniques, spanning roasting, stewing, macerating, steeping and brewing, toasting, and sous vide. On the Business of Drinks podcast, Trotman described a broader process using roasting, sous vide, dehydration, hot extraction, pasteurization, and cold-tank finishing in a 7,500-litre tank. NON8's development took skin-contact wines and apple flavours as reference points.^{[3],[5],[10],[11]}

Berry & fruit bases. Fruit forms the lead taste pillar in each blend. NON1 uses Tasmanian raspberries; NON2 uses roasted in-season pears; NON3 uses whole dehydrated oranges and Japanese yuzu; NON5 uses preserved lemon alongside lemon verbena and lemon myrtle; NON7 uses roasted and stewed sour cherries; and NON9 uses Stanley plum and blackberry alongside beetroot.^[2]

• NON1 — Tasmanian raspberries (freeze-dried)
• NON2 — roasted in-season pears
• NON3 — whole dehydrated oranges; yuzu from Japan
• NON5 — preserved lemon, lemon verbena, lemon myrtle
• NON7 — roasted and stewed sour cherries
• NON9 — Stanley plum, blackberry, beetroot

Salinity components. Murray River salt is a key local ingredient used across the blends to provide salinity and create a moreish sensation, used in NON1, NON3, NON5, and NON7. NON2 derives its salinity from Japanese kombu and Kalamata olive brine, while NON9 uses gluten-free soy sauce (Tamari).^[10]

• NON1, NON3, NON5, NON7 — Murray River salt
• NON2 — Japanese kombu and Kalamata olive brine
• NON9 — gluten-free Tamari

Tannin, spice & botanical components. Chamomile provides tannin and a creamy finish in NON1, sourced from Egypt (one of the world's largest producers of Matricaria chamomilla), with raspberry skins adding a small additional amount. NON2 uses a spice and black-tea blend for tannin structure. NON3 draws lingering spice and tannin from cinnamon and orange skins. NON9 layers Shiraz grape skin, French oak, fir pine needles for a forest-floor aroma, and ancho chilli.

• NON1 — Egyptian chamomile plus raspberry skins
• NON2 — spice and black-tea blend
• NON3 — toasted cinnamon and orange skins
• NON9 — Shiraz grape skin, French oak, fir pine, ancho chilli

Cascara & coffee. NON describes cascara as a by-product of coffee production, made from the husk on the outside of a coffee bean. NON7 uses coffee outer husk cooked overnight in hot water together with cold-brew coffee.^[5],[12]

Balancing agents. Sugar or agave is used to balance the final liquid in the same way sugar is used in cooking. NON1 and NON3 adjust sugar depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit; NON5 adds sugar to balance; NON9 adds a touch of raw sugar to the blackberries; and NON2 melts agave and vanilla into the mixture. NON7 contains no added sugar.

• NON1 — sugar, adjusted to raspberry sweetness
• NON2 — agave and vanilla
• NON3 — sugar, adjusted to orange sweetness/dehydration
• NON5 — sugar to balance
• NON7 — no added sugar
• NON9 — raw sugar to the blackberries

Production standards & scale. NON uses only whole, natural ingredients and avoids flavour houses or artificial flavouring; every ingredient listed on the front label is present and tasteable in the drink, and NON lists every ingredient on each bottle. NON1's full ingredient list, for example, is water, verjus, raspberries, sugar, chamomile, and salt. NON is HACCP (PASIP) certified and records all critical control points in its production process. Its facilities include a purpose-built cooking facility in Melbourne, and it produced approximately 200,000 litres in the year prior to the February 2025 podcast interview, on track for 400,000–500,000 litres the following year. Because natural ingredients are used, NON beverages may exhibit natural sediment and slight variances in colour and profile.^{[3],[7],[13],[14],[15]}

NON beverages are structured with floral, tannin, salinity, and acidity to recreate a complex wine-like experience. Across the range, NON1 is described as balanced, sweet, and salty, with chamomile providing lingering tannins for a floral finish. NON2 shows a bold body with a buttery texture, minerality from kombu, and a lingering spice finish. NON3 is bright, tart, and balanced with a savoury undertone. NON5 offers tart native citrus, a floral body, and a menthol aroma and finish. NON7 carries rich dark fruits, a spice nose, and undertones of coffee. NON9 shows dark berries with forest-floor earthiness, firm tannins, and a spiced finish.^[4]

Serving & pairing. NON is intended to be served in a wine glass and publishes a recipes blog featuring food pairings and dishes developed by guest chefs alongside its beverages. Suggested pairings run across the range: NON1 with citrus-forward salads, creamy desserts, cured meats, and a tomato-and-burrata dish with chamomile-infused vinegar; NON2 with dessert, cheese boards, roasted mushrooms, and roasted meats; NON3 with miso-glazed vegetables, antipasti, and fresh seafood; NON5 with grain salads, South East Asian curry, and stewed lamb or chickpeas; NON7 with dark chocolate, stuffed mushrooms, charcuterie, gnocco fritto with prosciutto, and marbled ciambellone served chilled; and NON9 with steak, ragù, and barbecued vegetables.^[1],[16]

NON collaborated with Proud Mary Coffee, a Melbourne-based coffee roaster. For NON8, NON worked with Mock Red Hill orchard on the Mornington Peninsula, which supplied orchard apples.^[2],[12]

NON collaborated with Maison Balzac to produce a limited edition 0% beverage featuring mandarin, lemon thyme, and rosemary, developed to pair with an autumn roasted pumpkin and sourdough dish. NON published a recipe by chef Matt Stone for Fermented Brown Rice with Mushrooms & Kale on 16 August 2022.^[17],[18]

NON's chef-partnered recipes and pairings have featured Chef Pete Townsend at Gaia Retreat & Spa, who used NON3 as an ingredient in a beurre blanc sauce for grilled kingfish; Chef Pamella Tomio's chargrilled broccoli in salsa romesco with seaweed almonds paired to NON1; recipes by Cecile Vadas paired to NON1 and NON3; and Joel Baylon's mortadella, crispy chilli and white sauce flatbread paired to NON7.

The NON Stopper. The NON Stopper is a non-mechanical bottle carbonation stopper designed by NON in collaboration with Vert Industrial Design House. It is made from nickel-plated 304 stainless steel and food-grade silicone, fits all NON bottles and most other crown-capped glass bottles, and has a patent-pending design. NON says it preserves carbonation and freshness for up to 7 days when kept cold. On the Business of Drinks podcast, Trotman described a proprietary stopper called the 'snopper,' developed through approximately 20 iterations from 3D printing to final mold and made from roughly 80% aluminium and 20% other materials with a rubber seal.^[3],[4],[19]

The NON Stopper won a Gold Award at Australia's International Good Design Awards for Excellence in Design and Innovation. Onya Magazine reports that NON won three major international accolades in four months, including Gold at the Sommeliers Choice Awards in Chicago.^[12],[15]

NON is poured by the glass at Michelin-starred restaurants including The Fat Duck in the UK and The French Laundry in the US. Ben Branson of Seedlip described NON as his favorite wine alternative and the brand he is most excited about.^[8],[15]