Bottled Water with Health Benefits Floods Japan

by Akira Sawai

The current health boom in Japan is having a ripple effect on the bottled water industry and sending many beverage makers scrambling to offer products with added health benefits.

Some bottled water contains minerals but others also include ingredients like dietary fiber.

Beverage makers are starting to pitch products that are easy to drink and not too sweet, and they expect the health boom will give their products a lift.

Suntory Ltd, the nation's leading whisky maker, marketed "Mizumizu-Shia" on March 22. It says the product contains deep seawater and dietary fiber, which should help control a rise in blood sugar after eating.

"The water agrees with any kind of meal and is easy to drink continuously," the company said.

House Foods Corp started selling "Mineralist" on March 28. It contains zinc, copper and iron, and is aimed at women who are at risk for osteoporosis. The company has been selling water with dietary fiber since last year.

Japan's production and imports of drinking water increased by 11.1 percent in 2004 from a year earlier and represented about a three-fold rise from 10 years ago, according to industry statistics.

European water in stylish packaging is getting popular while Japanese tend to use cheap domestic bottled water for cooking.

Competition is expected to heat up even more when some companies launch 2-liter bottles of water for 100 yen each this summer.

"We'd like to come up with our own original products in order to prevent a drop in prices," an official of a major company said.

Kirin Beverage Corp. had a head start in the mineral water race. Kirin Beverage and its joint venture operation dissolve natural water electrically for their "Alkaline Ion Water."

Sales rose 38 percent in 2004 over the previous year. Kirin's parent company Kirin Brewery Co plans to install a new production line at its Hokuriku factory in the city of Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, to boost output next spring.

Asahi Soft Drinks Co has been marketing "Vanadium Natural Water from Mt Fuji," which contains large concentrations of minerals. It registered a 3.3% rise in sales last year from the year before and expects to post a 12% increase this year.

Many health drinks and vitamin supplements are seeing a growth in sales. Officials at House Foods Corp said competition is expanding to food and drug making industries.

Japanese beverage makers previously experienced a sales boom in "near water" soft drinks in the second half of the 1990s. Japan Tobacco Inc.'s "peach natural water," which contained some juice, was one such popular drink.

But one industry source noted that the "near water" boom did not last too long. (Kyodo News)

Source: Japan Today