Apr 01, 2018 (Japan Times) - The legal definition of beer changes on Sunday, and Japan’s major breweries are looking to shore up their shrinking customer bases by introducing new products with a wider variety of flavors to shake up the stagnant market.
Under the old definition, beers need to be made from water and hops and have a malt content of 67 percent or higher. But that will be lowered to 50 percent from April, marking the first change in 110 years.
Furthermore, a wide range of items have been added to the approved list of secondary ingredients, which is currently limited to grains like rice, wheat and corn. The new ingredients include fruit, spices, herbs and flowers. Seaweed, oysters and bonito flakes are also included.
The change in definition gives beer makers more flexibility to produce beer with unique tastes and aromas and enables them to officially market the finished product as beer. Under the previous definition, such low-malt beverages were called happÅshu (quasi-beer), and were cheaper because they were less heavily taxed.
For consumers, the crucial question is whether prices will rise with the change.
The answer — for now — is no. The government plans to make the higher tax on beer and the lower tax on happÅshu and so-called third-sector no-malt beverages the same by 2026. This will take place by reducing the levy on beer and raising the tax on happÅshu and third-sector beer in stages — which will bring the three closer to each other in price.
But for now, major beer makers are trying to take advantage of the change to introduce new products and appeal to younger consumers.
