Insight - Sobering strategy: Japan brewers bank on alcohol-free beer boom

Various cans of alcohol-free beers, including those from Asahi, Kirin and Suntory, are displayed on a supermarket shelf in Tokyo, Japan March 9, 2021. - reuters

HIS social life severely curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, Tadasu Masuda found himself embracing the opportunity to take what in Japan are known as “liver rest days” and try out a range of alcohol-free beer brands.

They tasted much better than he expected, and while Masuda is not giving up on regular beer, he’s now committed to the occasional break.