Coca-Cola is planning to launch its first alcoholic drink in its 125-year history, with an alcopop in Japan.
The world’s largest soft drink company is looking to cash in on the growing market for Japanese alcopop, known as Chu-Hi—canned low-alcoholic drinks that contain the popular shochu spirit with flavored sparkling water.
Coca-Cola said it plans to launch its product in Japan as a small experiment.
He added, “Coca-Cola has always focused entirely on nonalcoholic beverages, and this is a modest experiment for a specific slice of our market.”
He indicated that the idea of an alcoholic drink from Coca-Cola is to stay within Japan and is not likely to be sold globally, because of the “very unique and special” culture of the Japanese market. He did not specify a timeline for the new product.
![Japanese alcopops, known as Chu-Hi. (“Nummy drinks” by Karl Baron/Flickr [CC BY 2.0 (ept.ms/2haHp2Y)])](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F03%2F07%2F6622661839_f379833bcd_z-600x450.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
“The Chu-Hi category is found almost exclusively in Japan. Globally, it’s not uncommon for nonalcoholic beverages to be sold in the same system as alcoholic beverages. It makes sense to give this a try in our market,” he said.
Chu-Hi is typically 3 percent to 8 percent alcohol by volume. Major Japanese beverage companies, Kirin, Suntory, and Asahi have Chu-Hi products that come in multiple flavors, including lemon, grapefruit, kiwi, and yuzu.
![Coca-Cola plans to launch an experiment in the low alcohol category in Japan. (George Frey/Getty Images)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F03%2F07%2FGettyImages-634597358.jpg&w=1200&q=75)