Peekaboo! The NO-LO trend is making its way into romance novels

The fourth book in the series, King of Sloth, was recently published.

The book, which was given to me as a gift (don't look a gift horse in the mouth), tells the story of Xavier Castillo and Sloane Kensington.

The plot doesn't interest us much, but a few crucial points are crucial: the male protagonist—Xavier Castillo, to be precise—must become CEO of a company in order to benefit from his father's inheritance. The will doesn't specify which company Xavier will be CEO of, likely because the protagonist's father—Alberto Castillo—was well aware that his son wouldn't want to take over the family business, the Castillo Group—a world leader in beer production.

So, Xavier decides to open a nightclub in downtown New York and, for this, he needs to find locations, suppliers, partners and so on.

Among the partners he chooses Vuk Markovic, known as – and I translate personally from English, since the book was published in English on April 30th and has not yet been translated into Italian – “The Serb”: an entrepreneur in his thirties, owner of Markovic Holdings, the family distillery that he revolutionized by creating a new line of No-Low Alcohol vodka.

This, for me, was the crux of the book: the NOLO trend is no longer just discussed in magazines, newspapers, or at trade shows, but this new consumer trend is also beginning to gain traction in contemporary literature. And if it's true that television is a mirror of society, then books, set in the contemporary world, are a reflection of current trends.

Although superfluous to the entire narrative, this passage has nevertheless opened the door to some unexpected considerations.

Realism between setting and trend:

The book is set in present-day New York and features fictional characters, all members of New York's high society who have only two things in common: they're all beautiful and they're all billionaires (a cliché, I know). A fantasy universe of industrial magnates, old-money heirs, CEOs, and business owners with nine-figure revenues. However, while the protagonists are fictional, the setting and the city depicted are real, as are the references to places, countries, and alcohol consumption trends.

I don't think dear Ana Huang pulled the NOLO trend out of a hat because she's a visionary. Simply, being a modern novel, she incorporated the trend of low/zero alcohol content, respecting a very current market evolution.

The NOLO trend is cool

Xavier Castillo wants to open a nightclub—which he'll call The Vault—in downtown New York; an exclusive venue accessible only by entering the VIP list. While it's not actually a real place, the setting is, and it's not hard to imagine that similar venues with these prerogatives exist around the world.

The exclusivity described above ensures that the products sold inside the Night Club enjoy the same elite allure. In this case, NOLO vodka is perceived as a special product, worthy of such luxurious venues.

Not just No-Low Alcohol wines… also spirits

There has been much talk of low-alcohol or completely non-alcoholic wines, but the topic of NOLO spirits has been addressed just as rarely.

By mentioning low-alcohol vodka in her book, Ana Huang took into consideration a broader consumption trend, choosing to address a particular or still little-known aspect of it.

Yet, brands of low- or zero-alcohol spirits do exist. For example, Seedli p offers a range of products that evoke the scents of agave (typical of tequila), citrus, and aromatic herbs. All are sugar-free, calorie-free, and, needless to say, alcohol-free.

Vuk Markovic will likely be the protagonist of the fifth book in the Ana Huang series, where we may get a better understanding of how the author intends to delve deeper into the history of Markovic Holdings and, specifically, the world of NOLO. While this type of novel isn't among my favorites, I'll have to make an exception for the sake of curiosity...