Efforts being made to boost “Made-in-Japan” wine production

November 23, 2017

Tokyo- Japanese beverage makers are stepping up efforts to increase the production of wine made only from grapes grown in Japan.

Such "made-in-Japan" wine, containing no imported concentrated grape juice or wine, has been gradually growing in popularity at home and abroad to accompany "washoku" Japanese cuisine.

But production volumes are still low due to a shortage of domestically grown grapes, with its market share in Japan at only some 5 pct in 2015.

In March, Asahi Breweries Ltd., a unit of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., acquired 4 hectares of farmland in Yoichi, Hokkaido, northern Japan. It plans to plant grape vines there in spring next year, aiming to produce about 2,000 cases of wine, or 24,000 720-milliliter bottles, in 2023.

Mercian Corp., the largest wine maker in Japan and a unit of Kirin Holdings Co.'s Kirin Co., plans to build two new wineries in autumn next year or later. Mercian also aims to double the size of its vineyards to about 80 hectares by 2027.

In June, Sapporo Breweries Ltd., a unit of Sapporo Holdings Ltd. <2501>, installed a sensor system at its vineyard in Ikeda, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, to monitor soil moisture levels and other data. The move is designed to help improve the quality of grapes. Sapporo Breweries aims eventually to develop a system that will use such data to enable artificial intelligence to issue farm work instructions.

Made-in-Japan wine is expected to face tougher competition with imports.

Japanese tariffs on Chilean wine, which is already less expensive, at less than 1,000 yen per bottle, are set to fall to zero in 2019. Under a proposed economic partnership agreement with the European Union, tariffs on wine from France and others will be scrapped immediately once the pact goes into effect.

Industry sources said greater efforts should be made to make made-in-Japan wine more widely known, as the products still have limited appeal to consumers. Jiji Press