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India’s alcohol market is poised for a boom and it seems like the global soft drink titan Coca-Cola is making its own entry into the ready-to-drink (RTD) space. This month the company announced their plans to launch Lemon-Dou a lemon-flavoured Chu-hi drink with a shochu base, a type of distilled alcohol popular in Japan. It’s described on the company’s website as “Made from crushed whole lemons, infused in alcohol, mixed with bubbles – a refreshing, full-bodied chu-hi alcoholic lemon drink.”
As per a report by the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) earlier this year, the Indian alcohol industry is slated to touch $64 billion by 2030, positioning India as the fifth largest global contributor to the alco-bev market and this information is in line with more global brands making inroads into the country.
There’s also been a rise in popularity in terms of homegrown alcohol with locally crafted gin and rum taking a spot in the limelight with industry experts all being in agreement that 2024 will bring a new wave of interest in exploring new avenues of alcohol.
Lemon-Dou has been available in Japan since 2018 and is also available in select countries like China and the Phillippines, and for its India launch is set to enter in ‘select states’ before a possible nationwide release. As per the company, it will be retailed at ₹150 in Goa and ₹230 in Maharashtra the two states slated for its initial rollout.
This entry is one of many signs that point to a shift in India’s drinking culture and the movement of consumers to a more experimental way of drinking. That being said, RTD alcoholic beverages have sometimes struggled to find footing in the Indian market as was seen with the wave of hard seltzer drinks that had seen a spike in popularity but are still struggling to match the popularity of more familiar beverages in the beer and spirits category.
