Business
Coca-Cola will sell an alcoholic drink nationwide in Japan after a successful test run
The company will officially launch the alcoholic soda Lemon-do in Japan in October, Coca-Cola spokesman Scott Leith told Tuesday to CNN.
The lemon-flavored drink debuted in May 2018 in Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island, in three varieties from 3% to 7% alcohol, Leith said.
It is modeled after Japanese "chu-hi", a popular canned beverage made with a distilled alcohol called shochu, carbonated water and flavor, said President of Coca-Cola, Japan, President Jorge Garduño in February 2018.
Lemon -do is the company's first sting on hard seltzer, and it can be the only product of its kind at any time. Garduño said since the drink was created for a "specific slice" of the Coca-Cola market, it will probably remain a Japanese exclusive.
"I don't think people all over the world should expect to see this kind of thing from Coca-Cola," he said.
"I think the culture here is still very unique and special, so many products born here will stay here."
The company has greater hopes for the mass appeal to the new coffee product. Coca-Cola With Coffee, a riff at the 2006 failed Coca-Cola Blak, will be launched in 25 international markets by the end of 201[ads1]9, the company told CNN in May.
In contrast to the Japanese spiked seltzer, the coffee convection actually contains coke and a heavy dose of caffeine. It's not guaranteed, but Javier Meza, the company's global marketing manager for sparkling drinks, said it could see a US debut as soon as 2020.
