Japan: Asahi to hold on to the status as the nation's largest beer company

Asahi Breweries Ltd. aims to stave off Kirin Brewery Co.'s challenge and retain its status as the nation's largest beer company by launching a slew of new products.

Asahi, which lags Kirin in non-regular beer categories, rolled out the low-priced Gubinama on May 30 and is considering releasing a new happoshu low-malt beer product in autumn.

In addition, the brewer will launch the Prime Time premium beer on June 28.

Gubinama is Asahi's third product in the so-called "third-beer" category of beer-like drinks containing little or no-malt. The brewer said a fourth product is in the pipeline.

The multi-product approach comes in sharp contrast to its rivals, which concentrate on a single third-beer product.

Asahi's strategy appears to be paying off.

Gubinama's strong debut helped Asahi beat archrival Kirin in shipments of beer and beer-like beverages in May for the first time in five months.

Asahi shipped as many as 1.25 million cases of Gubinama on May 30 and 31 alone. One case is equivalent to 20 633 milliliter bottles.

Industry sources estimate that Asahi took 38.7 percent of the overall market of beer and beer-like beverages in May, edging out Kirin by about 1 percentage point.

"We did not expect the market shares of third beer and happoshu would expand to present levels," Asahi President Hitoshi Ogita said. "We consider the current situation as a crisis for our company, and we will make new product proposals."

Third beers and happoshu represent about half of the overall market of beer and beer-like drinks.

In the January-March period, Kirin controlled 42.3 percent of the third beer market and 55.2 percent of the happoshu market. Asahi's shares were 16.2 percent and 24.5 percent, respectively.

Asahi led the market for five years through 2005 on an annual shipment basis. But Kirin, which had reigned over the industry for 47 years, overtook Asahi from January through April on a monthly basis.

The rivalry between Asahi and Kirin is expected to heat up in June and July, when sales of beer and beer-like beverages peak.

Kirin President Kazuyasu Kato said the brewer will continue what it has done well.

The company will bolster sales efforts toward commercial clients, such as restaurants, for regular beer, where Asahi's share stood at a dominant 48.9 percent in May.

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