Asahi Breweries, Ltd. (アサヒビール株式会社
Asahi Bīru Kabushiki Gaisha) is a leading
brewery and
soft drink company based in
Tokyo,
Japan. The company has a 40% share of the
Japanese beer market.
The company's primary beer, from 1957 through the late 1980s, was
Asahi Gold (overtaking
Asahi Draft, its original formula, which remains in production). In 1987 it introduced
Asahi Super Dry, which initiated the Japanese craze for
dry beer; this led in turn to Asahi's dramatic turnaround in business performance, and its surpassing of former second ranker
Sapporo Brewery in sales and profits.
History
In 1990, Asahi acquired a 19.9% stake in Australian brewery giant
Elders IXL which has since become the
Foster's Group.
In 2009, Asahi acquired the Australian beverages unit of
Cadbury Schweppes.
On January 23, 2009, Asahi acquired 19.9% of
Tsingtao Brewery from Anheuser-Busch InBev for $667 million. The sale will make Asahi Breweries, Ltd. the second largest shareholder in Tsingtao behind only the Tsingtao Brewery Group.
Brands
The main brand is
Asahi Super Dry.Other beers produced include:
- Asahi Draft - Lager (First produced in 1892)
- Asahi Gold - Lager (Former flagship product; first produced in 1957)
- Asahi Stout
- Asahi Z - Dry lager
- Asahi Black - Black lager
- Asahi Prime Time - German Pilsener style lager (Only available in Japan)<sup></sup>
Asahi Beer Hall
Asahi Breweries'...
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