Asahi Breweries

History

The predecessor of the company, Asahi Breweries, was established in 1889. In 1893, it was reorganized as Ōsaka Breweries. In 1906, Ōsaka Breweries merged with Nippon Breweries and Sapporo Breweries to form Dai-Nippon Breweries. During World War I, German prisoners worked in the brewery.

After World War II, the company was divided under the Elimination of Excessive Concentration of Economic Power Law by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Asahi Breweries was separated from Nippon Breweries, which is now Sapporo Breweries. In 1989, it was renamed to katakana . In 2011, Asahi Breweries changed its name to Asahi Group Holdings, a holding company, and established Asahi Breweries Ltd as a subsidiary.

In 1990, Asahi acquired a 19.9% stake in Australian brewery giant Elders IXL, which later became the Foster's Group and was subsequently sold to SABMiller.

In 2009, Asahi acquired the Australian beverages unit Schweppes Australia, now known as Asahi Beverages.

In early 2009, Asahi acquired 19.9% of Tsingtao Brewery from Anheuser-Busch InBev for $667 million. The sale made Asahi Breweries, Ltd. the second largest shareholder in Tsingtao behind only the Tsingtao Brewery Group.

In July 2011, Asahi acquired New Zealand juice maker Charlie's and the water and juice divisions of Australian beverage company P&N Beverages.

In August 2011, Asahi acquired New Zealand's Independent Liquor, maker of Vodka Cruiser and other alcoholic beverages, for billion.

In May 2013, its New Zealand operations expanded with the purchase of retail chain Mill Liquorsave. Also, Asahi acquired the Australian brands and assets of Cricketers Arms and Mountain Goat Brewery in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

The first of these transactions happened as a result of Anheuser-Busch InBev (InBev) agreeing in April 2016 to sell its Dutch business Grolsch Brewery, Italian business Peroni Brewery and the UK's craft Meantime Brewery and SABMiller Brands UK to Asahi; this €2.3 billion deal closed on 12 October 2016. After Inbev's acquisition of SABMiller in October 2016, InBev agreed to sell the former SABMiller Ltd.'s Eastern European businesses and relevant assets in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania to Asahi for US $7.3 billion. The deal closed on 21 December 2016 and included beer brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Velkopopovický Kozel, Topvar, Tyskie, Lech, Dreher and Ursus.

In 2017, the company sold its 19.9% stake of Tsingtao Brewery for $937 million.

In 2019, the company bought Fuller's beer business from Fuller, Smith & Turner plc for an enterprise value of £250 million. The assets sold comprised the entirety of Fuller's beer, cider and soft drinks brewing and production, wine wholesaling, as well as the distribution thereof and also includes the Griffin Brewery, Cornish Orchards, Dark Star Brewing and Nectar Imports.

In May 2020, the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approved the company's $16 billion bid for Carlton & United Breweries, and the deal will see Asahi ending up with about 48.5 per cent share of the Australian beer market.

In January 2024, Asahi Europe & International (AEI), the international arm of Asahi Group Holdings, acquired Octopi Brewing, a contract beverage production and co-packing facility based in Waunakee, Wisconsin.

In September 2025, a ransomware attack on The Asahi group, caused a system outage and forced the company to halt production at most of its 30 factories. On October 3 it was announced that they were days away from running out of their most popular beer, Asahi Super Dry.

Brands

The company's primary beer, from 1957 through the late 1980s, was Asahi Gold (overtaking Asahi Draft, its original formula, which remains in production). However, Asahi Super Dry, introduced in 1987, is now the company's flagship beer brand.

Asahi Super Dry, a product that transformed the modern beer industry in Japan, is described as a highly attenuated lager without the heavier malt flavors of competitors' products, with a crisp, dry taste reminiscent of some northern German beers. This highly successful launch led to a significant rise in consumer demand for dry beer and in turn to a dramatic turnaround in Asahi's business performance, surpassing Kirin in terms of both sales and profitability.

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 – a 5% ABV dark lager
• Asahi Prime Time – German Pilsener style lager (only available in Japan)
• Asahi Super Dry - Dry Crystal – a version of Asahi Super Dry with a 3.5% ABV as opposed to the 5% ABV of the original (available in Japan since October 2023)
• Asahi Dry Zero – alcohol-free version of Asahi Super Dry

Brands acquired from Anheuser-Busch InBev:

• Šariš Brewery
• Peroni Brewery
• Meantime Brewery
• Gambrinus
• Pilsner Urquell
• Radegast
• Velkopopovický Kozel
• Tyskie
• Lech
• Dreher
• Ursus
• Carlton & United Breweries

Asahi Beer Hall

Main article: Asahi Beer Hall

Asahi Breweries' headquarters in Tokyo were designed by French designer Philippe Starck. The Beer Hall is considered one of Tokyo's most recognizable modern structures.

References

References

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18. (2017-12-20). "Asahi to sell Tsingtao Brewery stake to Fosun, others for $937 million". Reuters.
19. (25 January 2019). "A new chapter in our history".
20. "Asahi to Begin Brewing Beer in U.S. Through Acquisition of Octopi Brewing".
21. McCurry, Justin. (2025-10-03). "Japan days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry due to cyber attack – reports". The Guardian.
22. (2012). "The Oxford Companion to Beer". Oxford University Press.