MANILA, Philippines - Taipan Lucio Tan’s Asia Brewery Inc. is strengthening its portfolio of imported premium beers as it clinched the distributorship of Japan’s Asahi Super Dry beer in the country.
Asia Brewery chief operating officer Michael G. Tan said the company has signed an agreement that will allow it to import 20,000 to 30,000 cases of Asahi Super Dry a month from Thailand.
Tan said the products will be available in bottles and cans and will retail at P60 each.
Launched on March 1987, Asahi Super Dry has been the number one brand by sales in Japan for years, mainly due to its light flavored taste. It is currently exported to more than 50 countries and produced under license in China, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Canada and Russia under permanent supervision of Japanese brewers.
The brand is produced with use of rare yeast, expensive elite hop and brewing barley.
The distributorship is expected to leverage on the established sales distribution network of Asia Brewery.
Asia Brewery was formed in 1982, producing its first beer, Carlsberg, in 1987 through a tie-up with Carlsberg International of Copenhagen, Denmark. This was followed by its flagship brand Beer na Beer.
Asia Brewery’s other beer brands include Lone Star, Colt 45, Stag, Colt Ice, Coors, Lone Star Ice, and Lone Star Ultra (the country’s first low-carb beer).
The company branched out into non-alcoholic beverages and bottled water, with Absolute distilled drinking water, Summit natural drinking water, Absolute pure distilled drinking water, Pacific Sun iced tea, among other brands.