Breaking its 130-year-old tradition, Coca-Cola is launching the first alcoholic drink in its history with a canned liquor product in Japan.
With its iconic red label and secret recipe, it’s been one of the world’s most famous soft drinks for more than a century.
The beverage giant will experiment with a canned beverage called Chu-Hi, made up of distilled Japanese drink shochu, sparkling water and flavoring.
“This is unique in our history. Coca-Cola has always focused entirely on non-alcoholic beverages, and this is a modest experiment for a specific slice of our market,” said Jorge Garduno, president of Coca-Cola’s Japan business unit, in a post on the company’s website.
“Experimentation is almost like a day-to-day ritual. You can’t fall behind the rapid product cycle in Japan,” he further added.
Coca-Cola also owns Georgia Coffee in Japan, which it claims is the world’s highest-grossing canned coffee drink, making more than USD 1 billion in annual sales.
