By Ellie Searl | Food and Drink Reporter
After 130 years the Coca Cola company has decided to bring out an alcoholic drink in Japan.
It is keen to cash in on the country’s growing taste for Chu-Hi – canned sparkling flavoured drinks what has now been 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”.
Jorge Garduno, Coca-Cola’s Japan president said “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,” He also does not think that the alcoholic beverage will be sold ousting Japan.
Chu-Hi – an abbreviation for shochu highball – has been marketed as an alternative to beer, proving especially popular with female drinkers.
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.
