THE INVENTOR OF WORLD'S FIRST ZERO ALCOHOL BEER A JAPANESE WOMAN - NAMIKO KAJIWARA

NAMIKO KAJIWARA - THE BRAINS BEHIND THE WORLD'S FIRST NON-ALCOHOLIC BEER WITH ZERO PERCENT ALCOHOL

Meet Namiko Kajiwara of Japanese beer company, Kirin Brewery. Back in 2007, when the Japanese government introduced stricter DUI laws, she decided there ought to be a non-alcoholic beer with absolutely zero alcohol in it. Many so-called "non-alcoholic" beers contain anywhere between 0.01% to 0.5% alcohol. In April 2009, Kirin introduced the world's first non-alcoholic beer with 0.00% alcohol - a fact that is prominently displayed on the label.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal of Japan, the NIKKEI, honored Kajiwara's contribution to the success of this surprising hit product of 2009:

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/ac/tnks/Nni20091215D14HH086.htm

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Female Hit Makers Recognized For Innovation, Sales Savvy

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Shoppers may be pinching pennies, but some products have proved irresistible regardless of the dismal economic conditions. The driving forces behind some of these successes have been women, and five of them made Nikkei Woman Magazine's annual ranking of Japan's top female movers and shakers.

Among the hit makers on the Woman of the Year 2010 ranking, Namiko Kajiwara, who played a leading role in developing Kirin Brewery Co.'s non-alcoholic beer, placed the highest.

Kirin Free, released in April, is the world's first non-alcoholic beer that contains zero alcohol. Within less than two months of its debut, sales surpassed the annual target of 630,000 cases (1 case=20 633ml bottles), prompting the company to raise the goal to 3.5 million cases just six months after the product's launch.

Kajiwara came up with the idea for the beverage in 2007, when the road traffic law was revised to crack down on drunk driving. Because conventional non-alcoholic beer actually contains 0.1-0.5% alcohol, she thought there would be demand for a beer that contains not a drop of alcohol.

In doing market research, Kajiwara spent the bulk of her time defining a vision for the product, eventually coming up with the phrase "contribution to society."

She explains that Kirin can contribute to society by offering a beverage that can slake drivers' thirsts without intoxicating them, thus making the roads safer.

Prominently displayed on each can of Kirin Free are the words "alcohol 0.00%." To drive home the message that its product is truly non-alcoholic, Kirin conducted a sampling event at a highway rest area.

Thanks to such efforts, Kirin Free became a smash success, winning over everyone from drivers to women who are pregnant to people who cannot drink alcohol for health reasons.

Power of perseverance

Some of this year's hit makers made the list thanks to their thorough research and tenacious efforts in introducing new or improved products.

Yuriko Kure spent about a year studying people's thoughts about laundry before coming up with the concept behind Kao Corp.'s (4452) Attack Neo liquid laundry detergent. But coming up with the concept -- a detergent that saves water, electricity and time by requiring only a single rinse -- was just the start; four more years were spent developing the product before Attack Neo hit the market in 2009.

Another hit maker, Keiko Nishida of Sharp Corp. (6753), has since 2002 been developing air purifiers that incorporate the firm's proprietary Plasmacluster technology. By making many product improvements, such as finding a way that enables people to see with their own eyes how effectively a device is cleaning the air, she played a significant role in expanding air-purifier sales at Sharp, which holds the largest share of the market.

The other two hit makers made the list on the strength of their innovative promotional campaigns.

Yuka Komori of Shochiku Co. (9601) led the promotional team for "Departures," which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Because of budget constraints, Komori took a word-of-mouth approach, drawing more than 100,000 people to previews in order to create a buzz, among other advertising tactics. The movie became a blockbuster, raking in more than 6.4 billion yen at the box office.

Akiko Sengoku, who works for cosmetics firm Nihon L'Oreal KK, persuaded the parent company in Paris to let the Japanese unit do its own advertising to better appeal to local tastes. This helped make Oscillation, a Lancome-brand mascara product that uses a vibrating brush, a product that the company claims sells "once every 30 seconds."

Nikkei Woman Magazine is published monthly by Nikkei Business Publications Inc.

(The Nikkei Marketing Journal Dec. 13 edition)

Other related links on this blog:

1. http://sobermd.blogspot.com/2009/07/kirin-beers-surprise-hit-product.html

2. http://sobermd.blogspot.com/2009/08/japanese-invasion-000-alcohol-free-beer.html

A Real-Deal Sure-Fire Hangover Remedy that Works!

A Real-Deal Sure-Fire Hangover Remedy that Works!

Unless you are way too hungover, spend 3 minutes to watch the brief entertaining YouTube video below.

If you don't have the ability nor patience, then follow these instructions for a simple sure-fire hangover remedy that won't have you scrambling for exotic ingredients you most likely don't have on hand:

Ingredients

3-4 fresh oranges

One fresh Grade-A egg

Instructions

Using the oranges, squeeze out one glass of juice. Store-bought juice is not considered an acceptable substitute.

Pour the juice into a tall glass but definitely not to the top of the glass.

Carefully break one fresh raw egg into the orange juice.

Stir vigorously with a fork; the juice should change color.

Drink at once.

How It Works

The orange juice provides both much-needed water, Vitamin C and sugars while the raw egg provides protein and also Cysteine which helps counteract Acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) - a byproduct of ethanol oxidation and responsible for most of the hangover.

Naltrexone aka "The Sinclair Method"

Click here to hear an interview with Dr. David Sinclair - the American researcher who developed a method of removing the cravings for alcohol using Naltrexone therapy. The method boasts a success rate between 78 to 85% in securing long-term control of alcohol consumption to abstinence or acceptable levels ("social").

Sinclair Method wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Method

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/health/12bside.html

May 12, 2009
Primary Care for Alcoholics
By JANE E. BRODY
THE NEW YORK TIMES

In treating alcohol abuse and alcoholism, “we haven’t yet reached the Prozac moment,” says Dr. Mark Willenbring, referring to the drugs that radically changed the treatment of depression. But Dr. Willenbring, an expert on treating alcohol addiction, predicts that the day is not far off when giving a pill and five minutes of advice to an alcohol abuser will be all that is needed to keep drinking under control.

Two such medications are already available, though they are not as effective as modern antidepressants have been for depression.

“We’re at the same place with alcohol abuse that the treatment of depression was at 40 years ago, when only psychiatrists treated it and most people with depression were never treated at all,” said Dr. Willenbring, the director the Division of Treatment and Recovery Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Then came Prozac, followed by similar antidepressants that took the treatment of depression out of mental hospitals and psychiatric offices and put it in homes and in the offices of primary care doctors.

“Now almost all of depression is treated in primary care,” Dr. Willenbring said, “and two-thirds to three-fourths of depression is getting treated.”

But with alcohol dependence, he said, only one person in eight receives professional treatment.

“Those who get into treatment programs are the most severe alcoholics,” Dr. Willenbring said. “But the bulk of alcohol abusers have a more moderate form, with a better prognosis. Most could get well in primary care settings and not have to wait until they are at the end of their rope and forced to go into a rehabilitation program, which can be so stigmatizing.”

What is needed for controlling alcohol abuse early in the disease, he said, are drugs like Prozac that can be easily prescribed by primary care physicians to help people with moderate alcohol abuse. Several such drugs are now in the pipeline, Dr. Willenbring said.

The two already available — naltrexone and Topamax — are not yet the equivalent of Prozac for depression, but they can help many alcohol abusers learn to drink more moderately or abstain altogether. Naltrexone, now a low-cost generic, was originally developed to control drug addiction but was found to be more effective at reducing cravings for alcohol. Topamax, an antiseizure drug not yet available as a generic, has also been used to treat alcohol dependence, among other conditions.

Taken an hour before consuming alcohol, naltrexone blocks receptors in the brain that register “reward” and that reinforce a craving for alcohol. Within three to four months of starting treatment, naltrexone, when compared with a placebo, can reduce relapse to heavy drinking 20 to 40 percent, Dr. Willenbring said. Some European practitioners claim even greater effectiveness. By eliminating cravings for alcohol, the drug enables an abuser to drink more moderately or abstain entirely.

While naltrexone is not the final answer to alcohol abuse, it has been shown to be at least twice as effective as alcohol treatment programs and can avoid their stigmatizing consequences, which can include difficulty getting life insurance, jobs or security clearance.

Unfortunately, most primary care physicians know little or nothing about naltrexone, Dr. Willenbring said. He suggested that drinkers who need help controlling their intake ask their doctor for a prescription. More information about the drug can be found on the Web sites of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (www.aaap.org) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (www.asam.org). JANE E. BRODY

A brief four-minute news clip on the Sinclair Method (Naltrexone):



You can read more about the Sinclair Method in this book by Roy D. Eskapa, PhD which also has a foreword by David Sinclair, PhD:



An online forum for those using the Sinclair Method can be found here:

http://www.thesinclairmethod.net/community/