“It’s 2008 and Japan’s second largest beverage company has a problem. Whisky, the pride of its portfolio, the drink on which it built its empire, is in a slump. The market has been shrinking for 26 years. Japan is turning its back on the tipple that once epitomized worldly sophistication.
Said company, Suntory, learns that Japan’s young drinkers see the distillate as too strong and a poor companion for food. Whisky is what old men drink before bedtime. To turn things around, the beverage giant launches a promotion that is now seen as a blueprint for other dwindling drinks sectors.”
Highball fever
Metropolis, 6 November 2009
“It’s 2008 and Japan’s second largest beverage company has a problem. Whisky, the pride of its portfolio, the drink on which it built its empire, is in a slump. The market has been shrinking for 26 years. Japan is turning its back on the tipple that once epitomized worldly sophistication.
Said company, Suntory, learns that Japan’s young drinkers see the distillate as too strong and a poor companion for food. Whisky is what old men drink before bedtime. To turn things around, the beverage giant launches a promotion that is now seen as a blueprint for other dwindling drinks sectors.”
Photo by Will Robb