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The Yomiuri Shimbun Asahi Breweries’ Tasuku Yamada, right, and Noriaki Yoden, who were behind the development of Mirai no Lemon Sour (Future lemon sour)
By Takeru Tsuzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
13:00 JST, January 26, 2025
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.’s Mirai no Lemon Sour (Future lemon sour) is the “world’s first” canned lemon flavor cocktail with a real lemon slice inside.
The visual surprise of a lemon slice floating in the drink when the top is opened has brought consumers who don’t usually drink canned cocktails, usually called canned chuhai in Japan, into the market. It was released in the Tokyo metropolitan area in June and in the Kansai, Tokai and Hokuriku regions in December.
The sight of a 5-milimeter-thick lemon slice greets you when you pop the can open.
The slice inside is edible, from a lemon free of postharvest fungicide and other chemicals. The lemon sour brought a new perspective to the canned chuhai market in how it can be enjoyed through taste, sight and sound.
Asahi began developing the product in early 2021.
Asahi’s New Brand Development Deputy Manager Tasuku Yamada, 38, and his colleagues were asked:
“Is there a way to use this can for other products?”
“This can” refers to a “full open can” whose top comes completely off. It was originally created in an attempt to capture the appeal of a mug of draft beer with a can.
The wide opening makes it easy to gulp it down and appreciate the aroma. The Asahi Super Dry Nama Jokki Can beer became a huge hit when it was released in spring 2021.
‘Full open can’ applications
The unique can top gave the lemon sour inspiration to Yamada, as he thought, “We might just be able to get a slice of lemon into a can.”
A new product’s course was soon shaped. Yamada’s team had its eye on the lemon sour, which is a drink served in a glass with fresh fruit at izakaya pubs. A preliminary marketing survey showed the drink was most popular when paired with real fruit.
Products that emphasize the fruitiness of the drink were already on the market, but there were no canned chuhai that contained actual fruit. When they put a slice of a storebought lemon in the canned drink, an unexpected phenomenon occurred. The lemon rose up to the surface when the can was opened.
“We were incredibly excited. We thought we could wow customers with this,” Yamada recalled.
Asahi boasts the largest share in the beer market but is struggling in the market for RTD — ready-to-drink — products such as canned chuhai. Developing a key product that expands Asahi’s presence in the RTD market was a long-standing issue for the company.
Noriaki Yoden, 33, deputy manager of the RTD Marketing Department, was confident that the product would “create a paradigm shift in canned chuhai.” But at the same time, he thought, “Can we really do this?”
Find the perfect lemon
Using real lemons in canned drinks was a challenge.
The first task was how to secure lemons suitable for mass production which would maintain their quality. Since Japan’s awareness of food safety is particularly high, Yoden said, the use of postharvest chemical- and preservative-free lemons was nonnegotiable. His team found lemons that could meet their strict requirements at a farm in Sichuan, China, which is one of the world’s leading lemon-producing regions.
There was also a risk of an outbreak of microorganisms if raw fruit was left in a can. The team introduced special equipment at a Sichuan factory for drying lemons. Employees of Asahi in charge of quality assurance and equipment management stayed in China for up to two months to develop the supply system.
Getting the solid food into cans was the first challenge. A machine to insert lemon slices into cans was developed from scratch. Through trial and error, including dented cans and lemons not fitting, the team spent two years improving the machine’s accuracy in sealing 600 cans in a minute.
The development took about 3½ years, more than twice as long as that of a regular canned chuhai, involving about 80 people, which is unheard of.
Yoden said: “Rather than stealing customers from rivals, it has attracted people to the market who don’t usually drink alcohol or beer. I think the product contributed to revitalizing the alcoholic beverage market.”
