China’s taste for Japanese sake brings cheer to struggling brewers
- Millennials consider the national drink uncool and it’s also had to compete with an influx of foreign alcohol
- But China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia may just be a lifeline for Japanese brewers – if they manage to overcome the export challenges
Faced with a declining consumer base at home, Japan’s traditional sake brewers have been struggling for a decade or more.
“It has been very difficult in the domestic market for a few years now,” said Terumasa Yamamoto, director of the Fuji Takasago Sake Brewery, which is at the base of Mount Fuji and has been using the groundwater from Japan’s iconic peak in its sake since it was established in 1831.
“Fewer people are buying sake and it’s not popular at all with young people, many of whom do not drink any alcohol at all now,” he said. “Faced with that situation, we are very happy we made the decision around seven years ago to look into expanding into China.”
Today, the company exports about 10,000 bottles a year to China, a number Yamamoto says he hopes to gradually build upon. His products include the popular Junmai Daiginjo premium sake, which uses rice that’s been polished to around 35 per cent of its original size, and sells for 10,000 yen (US$90) for a 1,800ml bottle.
“We sell primarily to outlets in the big cities, such as Beijing or Shenzhen, but it is good for us because it is a huge market and there’s a growing number of people there who are wealthy,” Yamamoto said.
As the taxes on imported drinks are high, a bottle in China costs as much as three times the price in Japan, he added.