The Soma Herbal Beer Guy heads for Japan.

(PRWEB) August 20, 2000
in Japan, Philadelphia chemist and herbalist Frank Lewis and partners Richard Hill and
master-brewer Nick Matt identifies far east opportunity for SOMA non-alcoholic brew.

Business Editors & Food/Beverage Writers

PHILADELPHIA, Penn.--(BEVERAGE MARKETING)--Tuesday, August 15, 2000--

Will Soma Herbal find the beer lover in Japan? When Tokyo starts sprouting sun
umbrellas, ferns and potted shrubs, it means just one thing: the beer gardens are back.
These temporary but extravagant drinking halls pop up out of nowhere like the cherry
blossoms in May and June and just as quickly disappear in September. On rooftops, in
vacant lots and in buildings awaiting demolition or renovation, Japanese entrepreneurs
each year come up with wacky concepts to attract beer drinkers, with themes ranging
from Brave New World to Lawrence of Arabia to the America Wild West.

One US doctor contends that beer may help you live longer, according to Nutritionist
Leslie Klevay, MD, who put rats on a copper-deficient diet, the animals allowed to drink
beer lived six times longer than the rats given only water. The beer drinking rats also had
dramatically lower cholesterol counts than the abstainer rats. Klevay says his findings
support other studies showing that without sufficient dietary copper cholesterol and blood
pressure go up. He attributes beer's longevity advantage to the way it helps the body
metabolize copper. Although beer has only minute traces of copper, Klevay suspects it
contains some yet-to-be-identified ingredient that enhances the body's ability to absorb
copper from food.

"For as long as there has been Soma Herbal, Japanese tourist visiting Philly for that
famous Cheese Steak and soft baked pretzels, have been asking us to FexEx it to them in
Japan. Our concern was that we didn't want any Soma Herbal to go flat on its mile high
flight to Tokyo." explains Frank Lewis.

Although Soma Herbal" is aimed at women and non-alcoholic, still Lewis is already
seeking to follow the example of Americas largest brewers in marketing his herbal brew
in Japan. He is negotiating with exporters to find suitable outlets for his specialty brew in
beer-loving Japan. This buds for you may take on a new meaning if Somas strange brew
ends up in a Japanese beer garden-as a promotional vehicle. Impeccably dressed waiter
would carry Soma Herbal to the table in silver ice buckets, much as they would bottles of
fine French champagne." says Lewis. Although many segments of Japans market are
notoriously difficult to get into, herbal drinks dont seem to be one of them, notes Lewis.

The Japanese market for a nutraceutical non-alcoholic herbal brew has recently opened
up for SOMA, he says. Unlike the herbal love beers from France so popular with
Japanese honeymooners, Soma gets it bang from an effective herbal recipe that contains
Passionflower, Kava Kava, Scullcap and Saint Johns Wort. Why did it take so long for
the company to launch Soma Herbal? In a nutshell it was the strong push for the use of the
relaxing effect of herbs instead of alcohol. They ended up creating SOMA, a natural
spirits brew" with the body, flavor, taste and fun-giving quality of beer but without its
sensory-dulling result. This so called Spanish fly in a bottle" or aphrodisiac brew
ha-ha has been critically acclaimed and continues to attracting new consumers seeking a
new and different beer experience. The Soma tag line is: Put this in your pipe & smoke it!
well, no....Just drink it."

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CONTACT:

SOMA Products Company

Raheem Connelly, 888/280-3200

E-mail: raheemconnelly@hotmail.com

http://www.soma.homepage.com

-or-

Beverage Marketing USA, Inc.

(Public Relations)

Richard H. Davis,

888/392-4832 ext. 501-709-2067

E-mail: soma@brew-master.com

http://www.brew-master.homepage.com