August 15/Business Monitor International Ltd. (BMI) -- Japanese brewer Sapporo is to invest 10 billion yen ($103.7 million) in a 20% stake in compatriot canned coffee specialist Pokka. Hoping to reduce its dependence on the stagnant local beer market, Sapporo will acquire the stake from investment firm Advantage Capital, which currently owns 60% of Pokka, and other shareholders in order to bolster its small soft drinks presence.
Through to 2013, BMI forecasts a 9.8% contraction in volume sales of beer in Japan. The sector's advanced stage of maturity, exacerbated by stagnant wage growth and an aging population, has seen the market become sluggish, and all leading brewers are now seeking diversification, either geographic, in product terms or both. Suffering from the same problems as the beer market, forecast growth in Japan's soft drinks sector is hardly inspiring, but at 7.8% through to 2013 it clearly provides better opportunities for brewers.