Japan: Three major brewers simultaneously launch new “happoshu” beer products

Three major brewers simultaneously launched new “happoshu” low-malt quasi-beer products on Tuesday, September 2 that contain no purine bodies or carbohydrates, The Japan News reported.

In the unusual move to release similar products at the same time, Kirin Brewery Co., Suntory Liquors Ltd. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. hope to catch up with Sapporo Breweries Ltd.’s “Goku Zero,” which has been popular among consumers since its July launch.

Purine bodies contained in beer can be transferred into uric acid, which causes gout, while an excessive intake of carbohydrates is said to trigger lifestyle-related diseases.

In the shrinking Japanese beer market, health products are one of the few growth areas. The brewers believe consumers have a growing interest in products free from purine bodies and carbohydrates, with over 10 million people facing the risk of developing gout.

Takayuki Fuse, president of Kirin Beer Marketing Co., distributed Kirin Brewery’s new “Tanrei Platinum Double” happoshu to shoppers free of charge at a supermarket in Tokyo.

“People’s health-consciousness grows year by year and we have had a considerable response from consumers,” Fuse said, expressing confidence in achieving the sales target of 1.2 million cases by the end of the year.

Each case contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.

The sales target is set at one million cases for Suntory’s “Oishii Zero” and 400,000 cases for Asahi’s “Super Zero.”

Sales of Sapporo’s Goku Zero topped one million cases in the first six weeks of sale, a number that the company hopes will reach 2.6 million cases by the end of the year.

Before July’s launch, Goku Zero enjoyed popularity as a so-called “third-segment” beer-like alcoholic beverage subject to a lower liquor tax rate.

But the unit of Sapporo Holdings Ltd. stopped sales of the product after tax authorities questioned whether it qualified as third-segment quasi-beer. The brewer later relaunched the product as a happoshu with a higher tax rate but fewer constraints on how to make it.

05 September, 2014