Kirin has launched a new limited edition drink that has the look of a canned coffee drink but the kick of good ol’ alcohol.
On sale only at Tokyo area convenience stores from Wednesday January 19th, the “Yoru Cafe” (Night Café) comes in two flavors: “caffe latte liquor” and “tea liquor”.
Kirin is likely trying to imitate the success Suntory has had with their Horoyoi brand, a series of chuhai beverages aimed at younger drinkers who shy away from the typical salaryman activity of gulping beer at home. Since younger consumers prefer to hang out in a coffee shop or café as much as a traditional izakaya, Kirin will hope to capture some of that atmosphere through this new concept.
Blending low price (148 JPY, about $1.80) and modesty in volume (just 190ml) with original coffee beans, tea leaves and whiskey, the drink looks at first glance more like a canned coffee product. They’ve certainly gone for sweet tooth too: expect plenty of milk and “original caramel syrup”.
The Yoru Cafe drinks have a 4% alcohol strength (just more than Suntory’s Horoyoi) and the makers are also hoping to tap the market potential by throwing everything they’ve got at all the major SNS channels. This all gets dispatched from the special campaign night café website, which will also feature ustreamed content every Wednesday (see below).
While beer sales fall except for happoushu and ersatz beers, the major manufacturers appear to be discovering new financial heartlands here. Suntory’s sales estimates for Horoyoi in fiscal 2010 were raised to 6 million cases (initially they had expected just half that amount). Other successful beverages like Strong Zero (sales up 57% for January to November 2010 compared to last year) and Asahi’s limited edition Sparks chuhai (600 thousand cases in three months) also all indicate this is an area that will surely continue to develop.
