Cultivating a New Shochu Market

Shochu, Japan's traditional distilled spirits, is becoming increasingly popular today due to the health benefits associated with it, the enjoyment people take in mixing it with other beverages and the variety of shochu flavors available, depending on the basic ingredients.
Suntory offers an extensive product lineup in all three shochu categories, otsu-rui shochu (pot-still distilled), domestic ko-rui shochu and Korean shochu (both continuously distilled). We have configured our business to introduce customers to the profound attractions of shochu, and to win new converts to the ranks of shochu aficionados.

Otsu-rui shochu

Our otsu-rui shochu business is constructed on two pillars. The first comprises our main shochu brands. After exhaustive market research, we completely redesigned the labels and contents of Yaemaru and Sorekara to achieve both "the taste customers want" and "casual enjoyment and ease of selection". We plan to cultivate these brands as the mainstays of our shochu business.
The second pillar is the distinctive shochu brands we have developed through tie-ups with shochu distilleries in Kyushu and Okinawa, whose roots are firmly planted in their regional histories and cultures. We have established partnerships with six distilleries and plan to implement an active program of promoting the enjoyment of genuine shochu among customers.

Korean shochu

Since 1996, Suntory has maintained a tie-up with Doosan in Kangnung, South Korea, a district endowed with an abundant natural environment and excellent-quality water. We market this distillery's Kyogetsu GREEN, a superior South Korean shochu of unwavering quality made with pure natural water from the Sorakusan water system. Well-suited to Japanese tastes, its refreshing flavor has earned it widespread popularity among our customers and helped to make it the market leader among Korean shochu brands in Japan. While continuing to communicate the appeal of Kyogetsu GREEN's use of the natural water of Sorakusan to consumers, we will undertake to expand their knowledge of the world of Korean shochu as well.

Domestic ko-rui shochu and other products

In the area of domestic ko-rui shochu, we draw consumers' attention to its "fine quality" and "security and safety", centered on our Juhyo and Daijuhyo brands. We have added the newly released Yawaraka Sweet Potato Shochu Hanaimo to our Barley Shochu Muginoka as a "shochu for an evening drink" that can be enjoyed daily under relaxed circumstances, and both have earned a positive reputation among customers. We have also released a successions of new products based on a strategy of expanding the shochu world. These include Matsurika, the industry's first jasmine shochu.

Promotional activities in Japan and overseas

Suntory organizes shochu seminars and events in cooperation with affiliated shochu distilleries. We also disseminate information through magazines and on our Website, as well as through the industry's first Internet shochu examination, to call attention to our activities aimed at communicating the appeal, culture and enjoyment of shochu selection. We are conducting positive marketing activities overseas as well. In addition to launching Juhyo Special in the United States in 2003, we added the barley shochu Yaemaru, buckwheat shochu Kagura no Mai and sweet potato shochu Kuromaru to our export lineup. Our aim is to broaden the base of overseas shochu enthusiasts steadily as well.