A mother-of-four whose start-up business bloomed into a $20 million beauty empire has launched a new company selling non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits.

Irene Falcone first started Nourished Life as a blog to vent about natural and organic beauty products in 2011.

But it quickly snowballed into a thriving business when she noticed a gap in the market.

She invested $100 in products when the Australian dollar was worth five cents more than the US dollar in 2012.

Buying 100 lip balms at US$1 each and reselling them for $6 in Australia, Irene quickly realised the value to be found in selling toxin-free beauty products.

The business began to boom and she managed to sell it five years later for $20 million.

Three years on and looking for her next challenge, Ms Falcone has launched a new business called Sans Drinks, a website selling non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits.

Irene Falcone whose start-up business bloomed into a $20 million beauty empire has launched a new company selling non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits

She launched a new business called Sans Drinks, a website selling non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits

She said Australian drinking culture needed to change as it was too focused on ‘drinking yourself crazy’

She told Daily Mail Australia she was searching for the next ‘game changer’ – an industry that she felt needed a shake up – and the alcohol industry was an obvious choice.

She said Australian drinking culture needed to change as it was too focused on ‘drinking yourself crazy’.

She said she wants to make drinking non-alcoholic beverages ‘sexy’.

‘I think I’m the best person to convince people this is sexy.’

Ms Falcone is credited as helping push eco-friendly, sustainable and toxic-free products from a niche market to the masses. She hopes to do the same for non-alcoholic drinks.

She encourages others to chase their dreams and work hard to make them a reality

Ms Falcone’s breakthrough came when she bought 100 lip balms at roughly US$1 each and reselling them for $10 in Australia

‘Think how far we’ve come the past 10 years…reusable coffee cups are now cool,’ Ms Falcone said.

‘I want it to be kind of cool that you can pop open a non-alcoholic drink, drive home, go to the gym, sleep at night and not risk picking kids up from school with alcohol in your system.

‘You can’t just tell people not to drink. You can’t tell people don’t drink out of disposable coffee cups. Gradually you can try and make an alternative cool.’

She said non-alcoholic beverages have many health benefits – even to your sex life.

‘All those guys who can’t perform after drinking too many whiskies and vodkas…this could help.’

She said non-alcoholic beverages have many health benefits – even to your sex life

Ms Falcone is credited as helping push eco-friendly, sustainable and toxic-free products from a niche market to the masses. She hopes to do the same for non-alcoholic drinks

Having launched the business just six weeks ago, it’s already made $250,000 and is on track to generate over $4 million in sales by Christmas 2021.

Some of the nation’s biggest mainstream beer and wine companies including McGuigan Wines, Lindeman Wines, Carlton and United Breweries and Heineken are suppliers.

There are also 50 other local and international manufacturers. Irene has personally poured, mixed and tasted all the products that are on the website.

Source: Daily Mail AU