Japan Retail News - Inside consuming Japan - Trends, Products, People, Tech - Market Entry Japan
  • Japan Retail News - Home
  • Japan's Retail Market
    • Japan Business Links
    • JapanTV ads (CM) >
      • JapanTVads-Food
      • JapanTVads-Refresh
      • JapanTVads-Beauty
      • JapanTVads-Fashion
      • JapanTVads-HighTech
      • JapanTVads-Cars
      • JapanTVads-Service
  • Japan Market Reports
    • List Japan Market Reports
    • Doing Business with Japanese
    • EyeWear Japan
    • Kitchen Market Japan
    • Solar Market Japan
    • Furniture & Interior Market Japan
    • Retail & Consumer Goods Japan
    • Cosmetics Market Japan
    • Machinery & Tools Japan
    • Semiconductor Market Japan
    • Automotive & Suppliers Japan
    • Automotive Aftermarket & Autoparts Japan
    • Luggage Market Europe
  • Japan Market Entry Services
  • About JRN
    • Contact

News from the Drinks Front

2/9/2010

 
Picture
Japanese beer drinkers are tired of the same old tastes from the big four brewers and instead turn to a growing number of microbreweries across the country for something different. Also the already mentioned Suntory/Kirin merger was recently called off again.

Picture
 "Kirin Holdings Company Limited, which has been in merger negotiations with Suntory Holdings Limited, today announced that the negotiations have been terminated," Kirin said on 8th January, citing disagreement on whether to list the company.

A combined group would have been be the largest in the Japanese beer and soft drink markets with sales of more than 400 billion dollars -- ahead of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola Co. of the United States.

Picture
The talks between Suntory and Kirin started last year as Japan's beverage companies have sought to look beyond their traditional markets in the face of lean economic times and an aging and shrinking population at home. Kirin said that it had been negotiating with Suntory "on the premise that the new entity would be managed as a listed company in order to ensure appropriate management independence and transparency."

However, Kirin said that Suntory held a different view, and that therefore the talks were "unlikely to result in the establishment of a company that would fulfil Kirin's aim of developing as a leading global company." "Kirin therefore decided to terminate the negotiations," it is said.

Picture
On the beer side Kirin and Suntory are also not the luckiest. Being two of the four biggest brewers of Japan- the other two are Sapporo and Asahi - they have to cope with falling shipments. In 2009 shipments fell down 2.1 percent to just 472.5 million cases. Each case holds 20 633-milliliter bottles.

Microbrewers, on the other hand, experienced a bumper year, with shipments climbing to 34,000 kiloliters. And while that may still only represent a fraction of the amount sold by the established beer firms, it is an impressive increase on the 14,000 kiloliters that were consumed in 2003.

Picture
"It is simply that there are not enough choices in the Japanese beer market, and that is why we decided to start brewing some new and interesting beers," Katsuyoshi Yoshino, head of sales for Morita Kinshachi Beer Co., told Relaxnews. "Our company was originally a sake maker but we began making beer in 1996 and using unusual ingredients," he said.

"Now they can be purchased all over Japan and we are exporting to China and Australia as well." Based in the central Japan city of Nagoya, Morita Kinshachi produces a range of European-style pilsners, an Indian Pale Ale and an Imperial Chocolate Stout, but among its best-sellers are beers flavored with green tea or fermented bean paste.

Picture
The Matcha Draft green tea beer won bronze at an international beer competition last year, while the ingredients of Nagoya Akamiso Lager include fermented red beans, a local speciality that has made it popular in the city. "For us, the secret is to be original with the beers and make them stand out," said Yoshino.

Other breweries have caught on to the concept of being different, with the Hakusekikan microbewery's Tenen Hachinitsu Kobo Shizen Bakushu taking advantage of the natural yeast found in honey. The Super Vintage brew, meanwhile, packs a punch with three times the alcohol content of regular beer.

Microbreweries were legalized in Japan in 1994 and there are now some 300 companies brewing across the country. Many others have been forced to stop brewing due to the big beer companies' ability to keep prices low as they produce in bulk. But with sales rising in 2009, despite the global economic crisis, microbrewers hope that drinkers are shifting towards quality over quantity.


Comments are closed.
    JRN logo
    JRN

    Archives

    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    March 2008
    November 2007
    February 2007
    July 2006
    April 2006
    March 2006

    Categories

    All
    3d
    Abenomics
    Advertising
    Airlines
    Ana
    Apple
    Apps
    Architecture
    Asahi
    Beer Japan
    Bicycle
    Books
    Cafes
    Cars Japan
    Coffee
    Cosmetics
    Culture
    Department Stores
    Design
    Disney
    Docomo
    Dogs
    Drinks
    Economy Japan
    Ecotech
    Education
    Energy
    Farming
    Fashion Japan
    Flu
    Food
    Food Labels
    Food Market
    Forever 21
    Fujitsu
    Furniture Japan
    Gadgets
    Games
    Globalization
    Haagen Dazs
    Health
    Health Care
    Hello Kitty
    Heritage
    Hightech
    Hm Japan
    Hobby
    Honda
    Hotels
    Household Spending
    Hybrid
    Ikea Japan
    Industry
    Interior Japan
    Kids
    Kitson
    Living Cost
    Merger&Acquisition
    Merger&Acquisition
    Mitsubishi
    Mobiles
    Music
    Nhk
    Nintendo
    Olympia
    Online Shopping
    Online Supermarket
    Panasonic
    Pets
    Private Label
    Product Labelling
    Public Transportation
    Qr Codes
    Railway
    Real Estate
    Retail Japan
    Robots
    Sanrio
    Sanyo
    Science
    Security
    Sega
    Service
    Shiseido
    Social Media
    Solar Energy
    Sony
    Space
    Sports
    Statistics
    Supermarkets
    Tobacco
    Toilet
    Toshiba
    Tourists
    Toyota
    Toys
    Trade Shows
    Tradition
    Travel
    Twitter
    Uniqlo
    Vitamins
    Vuitton
    Wealth
    Wearable Tech
    Women

     


Our motto ...

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Albert Einstein

Stay in touch with JRN

 
Market Entry Japan request
> Get in touch with us/JRN
>> Speak to a Japan Expert
         Japan - a fascinating market with unique consumers buying extraordinary products. Be part of it.   Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved.   Japan Retail News© is powered by EJBC since 2005