Most people know Coca-Cola as one of the world’s most successful companies. They have been around for more than 125 years and their flagship products are Coke and Diet Coke, some of the most popular fizzy brown colas in the world.
But Coca-Cola just revealed its plans to launch a new line of alcoholic beverages in the “alcopop” style, mixing booze with cola. Looks like you may not need to throw rum in your drink anymore! The only catch is that this product will so far only be available in Japan.
The new product was recently announced in a statement by Jorge Garduño, the president of Coca-Cola’s business in Japan:
“The Japanese market is incredibly dynamic, fiercely competitive and rooted in innovation . . . We’re trying to push the boundaries to serve consumers in new ways . . . We’re also going to experiment with a product in a category known in Japan as Chu-Hi.”
For those who don’t know, Chu-Hi is typically a low-alcohol tonic which combines carbonated water, some kind of flavoring and a vodka-like spirit. Garduño continued:
“We haven’t experimented in the low alcohol category before, but it’s an example of how we continue to explore opportunities outside our core areas.”
Although it’s only going to be available in Japan for the time being, the statement left some wiggle room for what might happen in the future.
If this idea seems strange, consider that we do still have some products like this in America already. Whatever Coca-Cola is coming up with, it would likely resemble something in the Smirnoff Ice and Mike’s Hard Lemonade family—although details are still scant so far. In general, the Chu-Hi market that Coca-Cola is going after typically markets drinks that are between three and eight percent alcohol, somewhere between a light beer and a stronger one.
Although Coca-Cola has stuck with its main beverages since forever, this isn’t the first time the company has tried to roll out new and unusual products.
The company also just released a series of Diet Coke products this year aimed at millennials that come in many different flavors—so far these include Ginger Lime, Feisty Cherry, Zesty Blood Orange and Twisted Mango. Still, how these products will fare in the long run is anyone’s guess.
Though it should go without saying, past efforts at innovation haven’t all been successful. In 2006, Coca-Cola tried a coffee-flavored drink called Coca-Cola BlaK that was since discontinued (sounds pretty strange to us). Even weirder was OK Soda, a Coca-Cola spin-off from the 1980s that was supposed to be marketed to anti-corporate leaning members of Generation X.
Still, credit’s due where credit’s due—not all of Coca-Cola’s innovations have been fly-by-night products.
Many people are probably familiar with Vanilla Coke, a product introduced once in 2002 and again in 2007. Although it’s been discontinued in its actual canned form, it’s still available from Coca-Cola’s Freestyle vending machines. If you haven’t seen those yet, these are actually a prime example of successful soda innovation. The Freestyle dispenser machines have been around since 2009 and all you do is touch the screen, pick the Coca-Cola product you want (spanning the entire brand) and add whatever flavors you want.
But I digress: what do you think of this new alcoholic beverage idea?
As mentioned, there are as of yet no specific plans to bring this drink to the States and it remains a largely untested idea. If the idea of Coca-Cola moving into alcohol surprises you though, remember how the company got their start. The original Coca-Cola formula used to have cocaine in it, after all. Ultimately, there’s probably no replacing a classic can of Coca-Cola. But I’m still curious to see them try.
Would you try this drink if it came to America? Tell us in the comments below.
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