Coca-Cola is planning to produce an alcoholic drink
for the first time in the company’s 125-year history – with an
alcopop-style product in Japan. It is keen to cash in on the
country’s growing taste for Chu-Hi – canned sparkling flavoured drinks
given a kick with a local spirit called shochu.
The product is typically between 3% and 8% alcohol by volume.
A senior Coke executive in Japan said the move was a “modest experiment for a specific slice of our market”.
“We
haven’t experimented in the low alcohol category before, but it’s an
example of how we continue to explore opportunities outside our core
areas,” said Jorge Garduno, Coca-Cola’s Japan president.
It was unlikely the drink would be sold outside of Japan, he suggested.
Chu-Hi
– an abbreviation for shochu highball – has been marketed as an
alternative to beer, proving especially popular with female drinkers.
Japan’s
big drinks firms including Kirin, Suntory and Asahi all have varieties
of the drink, and continue to experiment with flavours.
The most
popular flavours are strong citrus ones such as grapefruit or lemon, but
the drink can also be made with other fruit flavours like grape, apple
and peach.
‘Premium segments’
As younger consumers
become more health conscious, Coca-Cola has been diversifying from fizzy
drinks, including buying water and tea brands.
But last
November, Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog speculated that Coca-Cola
might move into alcohol, as it looked to “premium segments such as adult
craft beverages”.
The phrase alcopop typically refers to
sweet but alcoholic drinks, and in 1990s UK brands such as Hooch, Reef,
Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer became hugely popular.
But
they were controversial, raising concerns that they encouraged young
people to drink alcohol in large quantities because they were so easy to
consume.