Asahi Breweries to unveil beer-like sparkling alcoholic beverage
Asahi
Asahi Breweries Ltd., a major beer brewer, said Thursday it will produce a beer-like sparkling alcoholic beverage, to be subject to lower liquor taxes due to its ingredients.
Asahi President Koichi Ikeda said at a news conference the new product will hit store shelves by summer.
Beer-like sparkling beverages -- currently produced by Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Suntory Ltd. -- have been dubbed "the third category of beer" in the beer industry.
Since beer-like sparkling beverages in this category cost much less than their peers -- beer and "happoshu" low-malt beer -- due to the lower tax rate, Sapporo's Draft One and Suntory's Super Blue have been popular among consumers.
Ikeda told reporters, "We are going to offer consumers a product capable of providing a new sort of taste, and its introduction is not merely designed to evade a higher tax rate."
