Page 307 - NEWNORMAL_ANIMATED

EXPORT & IMPORT

South Korea and Taiwan, which have kept Japan is by far the largest RTD market in Asia
local infections low enough to avoid a major Pacific and continues to grow strongly, even in
shutdown have seen relatively little change, 2020 we are expecting full year growth versus
whereas Japan saw a marked shift towards 2019 to be just under 7%. Most RTDs consu-
more at-home drinking. Japan has experien- med in Japan contain low amounts of sugar
ced fairly severe declines in the on-trade and or are sugar-free, similar to many hard seltzer
already has a relatively strong at-home drin- offerings, though they are not categorised as
king culture. This shift has benefited categories hard seltzers. Despite the low sugar content,
that are more suited to at–home consumpti- they can be relatively high in ABV.
on. Categories that are more on-trade-focused In Australia, the second largest RTD market
such as Champagne, premium wine, and sake in Asia-Pacific, hard seltzers are just arriving
have been more negatively impacted. and have the potential to succeed as they tap
In China, the lockdown was extremely seve- into current trends that resonate with consu-
re, which caused a rise in at–home consumpti- mers, such as health and wellness, concern for
on, but it was short-lived, and life has largely the environment and the trend for light and
returned to normal as the on-trade has reope- refreshing drinks. There has also been some
ned fairly unscathed. movement with wine-coolers and spritzers in
Australia though they remain small.
Are you seeing a swing towards „local“ China has huge potential for RTDs but po-
beverage alcohol brands and products in ses a quite different set of challenges, especi-
Australia? If so, is this more pronounced in ally from low-priced competition and copycat
any particular category? brands. Strong branding and a USP that can’t
Yes, there is an extraordinarily strong trend be easily copied, such as use of an established
towards local products that use local ingredi- foreign spirit, would help. If they are to succe-
ents where they can. This trend has been most ed, taste and wellness cues are likely to be
pronounced in beer, with the craft beer trend the main drivers. Hard seltzers offer a light,
and in some spirits categories, especially gin, refreshing style that is likely to be popular
where local craft producers have boomed in with younger LPA people, especially women
the last 10 years. In 2014 local gins held around looking for an alternative to beer. Younger
8% of the gin market in Australia, growing to LPA consumers are increasingly health-cons-
around 15% in 2019 and we expect local gins cious and concerned about alcohol and sugar
to continue taking bigger share of the growing intake. A low-alcohol, zero-sugar drink could
gin market over the next five years. play well in some quarters. There is also virtu-
There is also an emerging local whisky seg- ally no limit to the variety of flavours that can
ment, based mainly in Tasmania, where the be offered, which will help maintain interest.
climate is most suitable for wood aging. There Japan is alluring because of its sheer size but
we can also expect brandies and eau-de-vie it is a hard market for foreign brands to pene-
to grow in coming years. In the last year, the trate. Local RTD styles are very distinct and
trend for local products has spread to RTDs unique to Japan and the local players are very
with a proliferation of local, independent RTD strong. New market entrants need to be tai-
brands, including many hard seltzers and also lored to the local market tastes and with pac-
hard kombuchas and hard ginger. kaging that resonates with consumers. Coca
Cola succeeded with Lemon-Do because they
Are you seeing a surge in the RTD seg- developed a very localised product and mar-
ment (hard seltzers, low ABV meads, and keting strategy that resonated with Japanese
wine coolers) in Asia-Pacific? consumers. ƅ
307