Promotion of the alcoholic beverage market is such an unusual goal of the campaign launched by Japan’s tax agency, the Spanish TV channel Sesta TV reports. As part of this initiative, the tax authority launched a competition for business ideas, inviting young people to come up with plans to revive the industry and increase the demand for alcoholic beverages among people of their age.
On the website of the competition called “Sake Viva!” (Sake Viva!), warns that the domestic market for alcoholic beverages is shrinking, which Japan’s tax authority attributes to a declining birthrate and an aging population, as well as changing lifestyles due to the pandemic.
For this reason, the competition invites young people between the ages of 20 and 39 to propose their business plans for the promotion of traditional Japanese alcoholic beverages such as sake, shichu, awamori, beer, whiskey, wines, and liqueurs.
In particular, proposals are being sought for new services and promotional methods to stimulate youth demand for products and designs based on new lifestyles and changing tastes post-Covid-19. These include new sales methods using artificial intelligence and the metaverse, as well as ideas to increase the value of alcoholic beverages through geographical origin labeling. The deadline for submitting materials is September 9.
According to the World Health Organization, the consumption of pure alcohol per capita in Japan is 8.81 liters per year. Japanese tax authorities link the level of alcohol consumption with the age of their compatriots. This is worrying in a country where people over the age of 65 make up 28.8 percent of the population.