UK: Asahi closing Meantime Brewery in Greenwich

Asahi is closing Meantime Brewery in Greenwich and will move brewing of its Meantime and Dark Star beers to its Fuller’s site in Chiswick, The Drinks Business Review reported on March 6.

Speaking about the decision, a spokesperson for Asahi said: “Asahi UK today proposes to bring production of all its local beer brands together under one brewing operation at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick. Under the proposal, all Meantime and Dark Star products will be brewed, packaged, and distributed from the historic site in West London, alongside the existing production of the complete Fuller’s beer portfolio.”

The spokesperson highlighted that “beer has been brewed on the original Chiswick site since the 17th century” and insisted that “the addition of Meantime and Dark Star to the site will be mutually beneficial to both the Chiswick site and all the brands produced there”.

According to the company, the decision was made due to factors such as “leveraging extensive in-house brewing expertise and capabilities across an expansive range of beer styles” as well as the move being a bid to help “support a commitment to the growth potential of Asahi’s full UK beer brand portfolio – by creating more efficient, sustainable operations, with a solid foundation for future innovation and investment”.

The spokesperson said that Asahi was “continuing to drive and support the success of these brands” and stated that “Meantime and Dark Star beers will continue to deliver the great standards consumers expect and will retain their own unique brand identities, separate to the Fuller’s range currently produced on-site in Chiswick”.

Plus, the beer giant’s spokesperson added that “as part of the proposal, the intention is for Meantime to also retain a footprint in its original home of Greenwich” and revealed that “plans are underway for the creation of a new standalone consumer retail experience, including a continuation of brewing, where the brand was established as a pioneer of modern craft beer”.

Asahi maintained that the business remained “committed to treating all colleagues impacted by this proposal with compassion and respect” but did not respond to direct queries over staff redundancies, but said that it believe “this is the best course of action for supporting the success of our brands and our sites – focusing and leveraging the extensive expertise and capabilities within our local UK brewing business”.

In 2022, Asahi revealed plans to close Dark Star Brewery at its Partridge Green site due to the brewery operating at “significantly below capacity”.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .