Japan wine makers eye expanding market
JAPANESE wine made exclusively from domestic grapes is growing in popularity, and major alcoholic beverage makers are increasing production to meet demand. In addition to opening new wineries and expanding company-run grape orchards, producers are utilising artificial intelligence to streamline grape production.
Mercian Corp, which is owned by Kirin Holdings Co, has announced it is building two new wineries in Nagano Prefecture. One in Shiojiri is slated to open September 2018 and another in Ueda in autumn 2019. Mercian is expanding its grape orchards in Nagano Prefecture, and hopes to burnish its brand by building wineries nearby.
With three production bases – including an existing winery in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture – the company aims to expand its sales of Japanese wine from 35,000 cases in 2016 to 67,000 in 2027. One case contains 12 bottles with a volume of 720 millilitres each.
Japanese wine made up about 5 percent of domestic wine sales in 2015, according to Mercian. Because this share is expected to grow, “Japanese wine can drive growth,” said Mercian President Teru-yuki Daino.
In March, Asahi Breweries Ltd. purchased, through an agricultural production corporation, four hectares of farmland in Yoichi, Hokkaido, where it plans to grow high-quality grapes for use in Japanese wine. The company plans to acquire more farmland so it can expand its sales of Japanese wine from the current level of about 7,000 cases to 20,000 to 30,000 cases in 2025.
Sapporo Breweries Ltd, which sees wine as its second most important business behind beer, is expanding a grape orchard in Ikeda, Nagano Prefecture. The company has also introduced an AI system that gathers information on weather, soil conditions and other factors to determine optimal growing methods.
New rules governing labels for Japanese wine are scheduled to go into effect in October 2018. Only wines made exclusively with domestic grapes will be able to call themselves “Japanese wine”, and a production place name can only be used when at least 85 percent of a wine’s grapes were grown in that area and it was fermented locally. These changes are likely to influence corporate brand strategies.