Japanese brewers will release a record lineup of canned cocktails this summer as fizzy concoctions come to the fore in efforts to offset a decade of declining beer sales.
Brewers such as Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. have long tried to retain drinkers by making cheaper beerlike beverages. But changing tastes among Japan¡¯s youth have seen near-beer giving up fridge space to highballs, white-wine spritzers and pineapple-flavored rum cocktails.
These so-called ready-to-drink cocktails, like the cheapest beerlike drinks, fall into a low-tax category of Japan¡¯s complex liquor tax regime and can be priced far less than traditional tipples.
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