Coca-Cola to launch its first alcoholic drink in Japan

Coca-Cola is planning to produce its first ever alcoholic for the first time in the company's 125-year history, with an alcopop-style product in Japan in a suprising departure for a US company identified with cola and other non-alcoholic beverages.

While Coca-Cola dabbled in the wine business in the 1970s, the Japanese experiment is "unique" in the company's 125-year history, said Coca-Cola Japan president Jorge Garduno.

It is keen to cash in on the country's growing taste for Chu-Hi - canned sparkling flavoured drinks given a kick with a local spirit called shochu.

The product is typically between 3% and 8% alcohol by volume.

A senior Coke executive in Japan said the move was a "modest experiment for a specific slice of our market".

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, said Jorge Garduno, Coca-Cola's Japan president.

It's unlikely the drink would be sold outside of Japan for now.

The company's sodas only made up about 25 percent of product sales by volume in Japan in 2016, while tea made up 27 percent of Japan's overall beverage consumption in the same year.

Coca-Cola also owns Georgia Coffee in Japan, which it claims is the world's highest-grossing canned coffee drink, making more than $1 billion in annual sales.