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.
“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.