Drink that looks like beer getting popular with kids
2005-08-05 00:11 (New York)
SAGA, Japan, Aug. 5
Kyodo
''Kidsbeer,'' a nonalcoholic brew aimed at children, is catching on with young drinkers and is posting monthly shipments of 75,000 bottles, according to its maker Tomomasu Co. The beverage, which uses the Latin American plant guarana as an ingredient, sells for around 380 yen per a 330-milliliter bottle, which is colored brown to make the drink look even more beer like, the company said. The drink originated from a Coca-Cola-like beverage that used to be sold at the Shitamachi-ya restaurant in Fukuoka, run by 39-year-old Yuichi Asaba. Asaba renamed the sweet carbonated drink ''Kidsbeer'' from ''Guarana,'' a move that made it an instant hit. Asaba outsourced its manufacturing to Tomomasu, a beverage maker based in Ogi, Saga Prefecture.
Tomomasu tinkered with the drink by decreasing its sweetness and increasing its frothiness, the company said. It began shipping the transformed drink in late 2003. The initial shipment was only 200 bottles per month. But the beverage was soon adopted by other restaurants and even by department stores, which began offering it as a gift package. Asaba said kids and other people ''can raise a glass with this, even if they cannot drink any liquor.'' And kids are happy that the drink produces a lot of fizz and froth. Satoshi Tomoda, president of the beverage maker, said, ''Children copy and mimic adults.''
''If you get this drink ready on such occasions as events and celebrations attended by kids, it would make the occasions even more entertaining.'' The Kidsbeer label captures a nostalgic mood as it was modeled after classic beer labels. ''Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink,'' reads the advertising catchphrase for Kidsbeer. Further information may be obtained from Tomomasu Co. at
http://www.tomomasu.co.jp.
