Suntory shifts focus on US canned cocktail market as young Japanese shun booze

Japanese drinks giant Suntory is aiming to become the global leader in canned cocktail drinks with a strong North American market performance as younger Japanese consumers shift away from alcohol.

It hopes to replicate its success in Australia, where it debuted a strong, lemony brew that quickly became the top seller in the canned cocktail market.

For Japanese beverage companies facing an aging domestic market and a shift away from alcohol among younger people, international expansion is also a matter of survival.

According to Makoto Kitaura, a senior general manager at Suntory, Australia is a very important test market for its global strategy.

He added that success in Australia will rouse interest from other Western countries like the US and the UK to try a new brand.

To adapt its Japanese best-seller Strong Zero for the Australian market, the company enlisted the help of a localization team: the lemony tang was tweaked, and the alcohol was reduced from a hefty 9 percent to a more drinkable 6 percent.

In Australia, it also branded the canned cocktail -196 Double Lemon, emphasizing the extreme cold that Suntory claims it uses to extract flavors from fresh fruit.

Alana House, the editor of Sydney-based Drink Digest, revealed that the drink sold out almost immediately after it was released.