Happoshu, the beer-like malt beverage, looks set to see sales drop year-on-year for the first time ever.
Data released today by Japanese beer brewers showed shipments of happoshu dropped in October by 0.7% from a year earlier, the first drop in two months. Total shipments in the ten months to October fell by 1.9%.
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Japan’s cool summer, coupled with a tax hike in May, has contributed to the drop in shipments.
Beer shipments in October also declined, by 7.9% year-on-year, the 43rd straight drop in a row. Combined shipments of beer and happoshu fell by 5.1%.
