Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / News / Foster’s Retreats from China

Foster’s Retreats from China

June 17, 2006 By Jay Brooks

Foster’s has sold its last remaining Chinese brewery, in Shanghai, to the Japanese Suntory for an estimated $15 million. Like Lion Nathan a few years earlier, also abandoned the Chinese market, which is the second larget beer market in the world.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

ABN Amro analyst David Cooke said Foster’s and Lion Nathan’s exit from China was largely a result of the two being out-muscled – and out-capitalised – in the race for Chinese beer drinkers by brewers such as Anheuser-Busch, SABMiller and Heineken.

“Foster’s and Lion Nathan didn’t have the deep pockets that the other players had,” Mr Cooke said.

The Shanghai sale came seven years after Foster’s signalled its first retreat from China with the sale of its Tianjin and Guangzhou brewing businesses. The sale also comes one month after Foster’s announced the sale of the Foster’s brand in Europe to Scottish & Newcastle for $750 million.

Foster’s said it would continue to market its flagship beer brands in China, pointing out that 90 per cent of the beer shipped from its Shanghai brewery were local Chinese brands. However, there is speculation Foster’s may even sell the licensing rights for its brands in Asia. The company ranks its flagship brand as the seventh highest selling “premium brand” in the world, with 100 slabs being consumed in 150 countries annually.

Additional information from the Foster’s Group press release:

Foster’s Group in China

Foster’s Group entered the Chinese market in 1993, acquiring majority stakes in the Shanghai, Guangdong and Tianjin breweries, Foster’s Group sold the Guangdong and Tianjin breweries in 1999.

The Foster’s Shanghai brewery was originally built in 1935 and has undergone two significant capacity and technology upgrades, the first in 1987 and the second in 1997. With production capacity of 1 million hectolitres, the brewery produces the Shanghai Lager, Guangming, Qing Yi, Yi Hao and has been brewing the Foster’s Lager brand since 1997.

The Foster’s Brand

First brewed in 1888 by the Foster brothers in Melbourne, Australia, Foster’s Lager is one of the world’s best beers. As one of only a handful of truly global beer brands, Foster’s in now available in over 150 countries. Foster’s is one of the fastest growing international premium beer brands in the world and has enjoyed international growth of 40% since 1997. Foster’s is brewed in 12 countries, at 17 locations with over 100 million cases of Foster’s sold annually.

Suntory in China

In 1984, Suntory established China Jiangsu Suntory Foods Co., Ltd. in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, as the first foreign company to become a joint venture brewer in China. The company entered the fast growing beer market in Shanghai in 1995 and achieved the number one position in Shanghai in 1999. Suntory Shanghai has maintained a steady growth and produced and sold the first draft beer in the region. In 2005, Suntory acquired the Shanghai Donghai Brewery, and now holds a 54% market share in Shanghai

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Asia



Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Beer Bulletin Email

Enter your email address to receive daily digests:

Recent Comments

  • Martyn Cornell on Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Dreher Jr.
  • Martyn Cornell on Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Dreher Jr.
  • Martyn Cornell on Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Dreher Jr.
  • Lucy Corne on Beer Birthday: Lucy Corne-Duthie
  • Kendall Staggs on Beer In Ads #4341: Miss Rheingold 1955 Filling Yuletide Requests

Recent Posts

  • Beer In Ads #4460: Miss Rheingold 1958 Makes Pre-Game Predictions June 6, 2023
  • Beer In Ads #4459: Miss Rheingold 1958 Plays Tennis June 5, 2023
  • Frites Birthday: Eddy Cooremans June 5, 2023
  • Beer Birthday: Kevin West June 5, 2023
  • Beer In Ads #4458: Miss Rheingold 1958 Has Half The Work And Twice The Fun June 4, 2023

Tag Cloud

Advertising Anheuser-Busch Announcements Bay Area Belgium Brewers Association Brewing Equipment Budweiser Business California Christmas Europe France Germany Guinness Health & Beer History Holidays Hops Humor Infographics Kegs Law Mainstream Coverage Miller Brewing Northern California Pabst Packaging Patent Pennsylvania Press Release Prohibitionists Rheingold San Francisco Schlitz Science Science of Brewing Sports Statistics The Netherlands UK Uncategorized United States Video Washington

The Sessions

session_logo_all_text_1500

Next Session: Dec. 7, 2018
#142: One More for the Road
Previous Sessions
  • #141: Future of Beer Blogging
  • #140: Pivo
  • #139: Beer & the Good Life
  • #138: The Good in Wood
  • #137: German Wheat
Archive, History & Hosting

Typology Tuesday

Typology-png
Next Typology:
On or Before March 29, 2016
#3: Irish-Style Dry Stout
Previous Typologies
  • #2: Bock Feb. 2016
  • #1: Barley Wine Jan. 2016
Archive & History

This month’s posts

June 2023
S M T W T F S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  
« May    

BBB Archives

Go to mobile version