Dive Brief:
Coca-Cola Co.'s first-ever alcoholic drink — a canned beverage called Lemon-Do — went on sale this week in Japan. Several varieties of the productwill be available featuring 3%, 5% and 7% alcohol, plus a salty lemon version and one flavored with honey and lemon,according to The Wall Street Journal.
Fizzy fruit-flavored drinks containing alcohol, known as "alcopop," are popular in Japan, especially those with citrus flavors such as lemon and grapefruit.Food Ingredients First reportedthe products are sold as beer alternatives.
Lemon-Do's debut took place on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, although further Coca-Cola plans for distribution were unclear, The Wall Street Journal noted. Euromonitor AnalystAkari Utsunomiya told the newspaper that the company has tested products before in Japan and that the limited rollout might help Coca-Cola decide how to debut it elsewhere.
Dive Insight:
Coca-Cola's move into Japan's alcopop market is quite a departure for the soft drink maker, butslumping sales in some of its core areashave driven the company to look for profits in new places. However, Coca-Cola says it won't be bringing Lemon-Do to the U.S.
As Jorge Garduño, president of Coca-Cola’s Japan unit, said in ablog posted on the company's website”,是有意义的尝试这在我们的市场. But I don’t think people around the world should expect to see this kind of thing from Coca-Cola. While many markets are becoming more like Japan, I think the culture here is still very unique and special, so many products that are born here will stay here."
Beverage competition is tough anywhere, but it's particularly challenging in Japan whereGarduño saidCoca-Cola launches dozens of new products each year to find out which ones will catch fire with the public. But even though the company has stiff competition there in the alcopop category, solidly establishing this new Lemon-Do product could be a valuable source of new revenue in the area, particularly if it heads to the Tokyo market. The surprise factor alone might win new customers in Japan.
Things are a bit different in the U.S., where Coca-Cola has beenrevamping its longtime Fresca brandand introducing new flavors and packaging designs. Diet Coke recently added new flavors and a can redesign, andthe company switched up Coke Zero with Coca-Cola Zero Sugarlast summer.
Other beverage companies also have been innovating to find new revenue growth, withsparkling water productsa focus for PepsiCo and Nestlé.They've also been active with M&Ato expand their portfolios, withPepsiCo buying KeVita in 2016、益生菌饮料制造商和Coca-Cola acquiring Topo Chicolast fall, a premium sparkling mineral water maker.
In the case of Coca-Cola, U.S. consumers aren't used to seeing the company enter the low-alcohol space, so it's unclear how a product like Lemon-Do might perform here. Despite buzz on Wall Street that it might enter the domestic alcohol space, Coca-Cola seems content to improve its position in the soda, water, tea, milks and sports drink spaces where it has the most familiarity before it considers alcohol.
