The following is excerpted from an interview with Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. Chairman Akiyoshi Koji.
The company has taken a hit due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but we have also learned many things. Creating canned beer products for consumers who drink at home is not enough. To make eating-in more enjoyable, we needed to create a product that is fun to look at and fun to drink.
Consumers are in for a surprise when they open our newly designed cans of Asahi Super Dry that have recently hit shelves. The experience of seeing the change in the drink when the can is opened is where the enjoyment lies.
Online parties offer a drinking experience in a virtual environment. People can connect with others around the world while drinking beer, a beverage that is universally loved around the world.
Over the past few years, we had been unable to come up with new ways to enjoy drinking that would bring in business. We focused on a concept dubbed "smart drinking" to enable people who drink alcohol and those who do not to enjoy drinking together. Until recently, it was mainly alcohol drinkers who attended parties where alcohol was consumed. We want to triple the sales of our low-alcohol products such as "Beery," which contains 0.5% alcohol by volume.
Our Super Dry brand is so huge that we haven't done anything with it. The uniform marketing strategy is the same now as it was 30 years ago, which explains the current stagnation in sales. How to develop Super Dry into a truly long-selling brand is one of my missions.
The global population will reach 10 billion in the future, so there is still room for growth in the alcoholic beverage market. People drink alcohol because it lifts their spirits. It's an indispensable part of life. I'm confident that the market will survive.
-- PROFILE:
Akiyoshi Koji
Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. chairman
Koji, 69, joined Asahi in 1975. He was a full-time member of the company's labor union during a period when business performance was deteriorating, and he had to face problems including plant closures. He was appointed president of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. in 2016, and led the acquisition of companies in Europe and Australia, to make Asahi the third-largest beer company in the world. He has been chairman since March 2021.
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