Industry Monitor

2024

October

• Asia News Network: Alcohol industry booms as Cambodia grapples with alcohol crisis.

September

• Food Navigator Asia: Pernod Ricard launches digital labels in Singapore. 

July

• Phnom Penh Post: Heineken Cambodia launched Heineken 0.0 as part of their 'responsible consumption' agenda. 

June 

• Food Navigator Asia: Carabao, a local energy drink company, enters the Thai alcohol market with Tawandang German brewery and Tawandang Distillery. 

• Food Navigator Asia: Heineken's Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore invests SGD 4 milion to invest in technology and data analytics to target younger consumers. 

May

• Indonesia Expat: Wine Australia to manufacture non-alcoholic wine for Indonesia's predominantly Muslim population.  

April 

• Tuoi Tre News: Vietnam's alcohol industry opposes the proposed alcohol consumption tax. 

• Food Navigator Asia: Carlsberg Malaysia invests in future-proofing, ESG, and "premiumisation" of its portfolio.  

• Food Navigator Asia: Carlsberg Malaysia enters a new partnership with Sapporo after the end of its partnership with Asahi. 

• Rappeler: The Philippines' San Miguel Food and Beverage Incorporated - San Miguel Corporation's beer, gin and ultra-processed food companies consolidated six years ago - sets record P38-billion (USD 685.9 million) profit in 2023. 

• RYT9: Thai alcohol industry lobby group pushes for a relaxation of alcohol control policies in Thailand to support the country's tourism agenda. 

February

• BNN: Thai alcohol industry opposes government regulations on graphic health warnings on alcoholic beverages. 

• Food Navigator Asia: Carlsberg Malaysia invests in e-commerce and premium products despite decline in sales in 2023. 

• Food Navigator Asia: Thailand's Carabao Tawandang Company launched Tawandang Distillery to expand its share in the spirits market with a Thai whiskey. 

• Bangkok Post: Thai alcohol lobby group - Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association - pushes the Thai government to remove the afternoon ban on alcohol sales to boost tourism. 

2023

October 

• Bangkok Post: ThaiBev, a Singapore-listed ASEAN food and beverage company, is expanding operations in Cambodia, with a new brewery expected to be operational in 2 years and an aim to capture 10% of the beer market in Cambodia. It also aims to expand its international spirits portfolio.  

August 

• Marketing Interactive: Heineken, with the support of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), will be setting up a global innovation hub in Singapore which will help it aggregate consumer data while it expands in the Asia Pacific region. 

July 

• Reuters: Heineken blames economic downturn in Vietnam for the fall in its beer volumes in the Asia Pacific which fell by 13%. 

2024

September

South China Morning Post: Alcohol industry lobby groups call for cuts on liquor taxes to 20% to support Hong Kong economy.  

July

• Drinks Business: Consumer reports that South Korea mainly splurges on alcohol. 

June

• BBC: Asahi targets sober Gen Z with non-alcoholic beverages. 

May 

• NHK: Japanese liquor makers are rethinking high alcohol beverages amid a rising trend of non-alcoholic beverages. 

• Food Navigator Asia: Several National People's Congress members, who are also industry leaders in China, call for support for China's baiju industry to be promoted as a world heritage liquor. 

April

• Drinks Business: Suntory confirmed compliance with industry-led whisky production and labelling standards for Japanese whiskies. 

• Food Navigator Asia: Pacific Link Project: Kirin's Chateau Mercian partners with Chile's Concha y Toro to launch Japanese and Chilean premium wines. 

March

• Korea Herald: KPMG reports that more companies will be launching new drinks to target younger customers in South Korea. Related: About 30% of Korean students are overweight, more binge drinking than before. 

• Yahoo Finance: Diageo and Pernod Ricard targets the young expanding middle class and high-end consumers in China. 

February

• Economic Times: Carlsberg invests and targets higher profit growth in China by 2027. 

• China Daily: China's alcohol sales fuelled by holiday consumption and e-commerce. 

2023

November 

• Nikkei: China's Tsingtao under scrutiny because of viral video filmed at its Shandong brewery, showing contamination of a malt vat. 

2024

August 

• Reuters: India's Radico Khaitan posts higher Q1 profit on growing premium alcohol sales. 

• Reuters: India's Sula Vineyards posts Q1 profit rise on higher demand for cheaper wine. 

July

• Reuters: Child labourers at India's Som liquor unit in Madhya Pradesh worked 11 hours a day. 

February

• Asia Brewers Network: AB InBev announces USD50 million investment for the expansion of its brewery in Karnataka, India. 

• NDTV Profit: The alcohol industry lobby group in India - the International Spirits and Wine Association of India - is pushing for an inflation-linked supplier pricing model in India. ISWA also complained about high discriminatory taxes, rising inflation and high import tariffs. 

January 

• Food Navigator Asia: India's Salud Beverages expands its range of ready-to-drink cocktails with plans to expand in Southeast Asia. 

• BizzBuzz News: India's alcoholic beverage industry set to maintain revenue growth in 2024, with the industry accounting for 24.6% of the state's tax revenue. 

• Reuters: Diageo-owned United Spirits (India) reported a 51% increase in profit, showing strong demand for liquor in India. 

2023

December

• Economic Times: Coca-Cola India launches its alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage in Goa and Maharashtra, a product which was first launched in Japan in 2018. 

November

• Economy Next: Distilleries Corporation of Sri Lanka acquired Heineken Lanka. 

2024

August

• Reuters: Australia fines Mercer Superannuation $7.4 mln for misleading ESG claims.

May

• The Spirits Business: Asahi Group acquires Australian gin maker Never Never through Asahi Beverages, and will be sold through Carlton & United Breweries. 

March 

• Medical Express: Australian alcohol retailers exploiting loophole on pregnancy warning, putting unborn children at risk of lifelong harm. 

January

• Food Navigator Asia: New Zealand-founded Everyday Weekend hard seltzer brand aims for growth in the ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages category across Asia with pricing and marketing tactics. 

2023

December 

• Fiji Times: Alcohol marketing called out in Fiji for using Hindu deities. Fiji's largest Hindu organization urged supermarkets and retail stores to remove any liquor or alcohol products with depictions of Hindu deities that undermine Hindu teachings.