Japan: Shipments of "happoshu" low-malt, beer-like beverages for general household consumption are expected to surpass those of beer in 2003 for the first time since happoshu was launched in 1994 in Japan, industry data showed on December 10, Kyodo News revealed. Such shipments of happoshu by Japan's five top brewers — Kirin Brewery Co, Asahi Breweries Ltd, Sapporo Holdings Ltd, Suntory Ltd and Orion Breweries Ltd — during the January-November 2003 period came to 176.93 million cases, compared with 156.57 million cases of beer shipped during the same period last year.

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