Japan’s leading brewer, Asahi Group Holdings, has set its sight to return to China for the investment in the world’s largest beer market.
Production and sales in Europe were hit with high inflation. Asahi Group has 19 production facilities around Europe, while inflation recently hit 7% in April. The central bank is also poised to continue raising rates to combat this persistent inflation rate. Since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, high energy prices have been pushing up the cost of the Asahi’s glass bottles.
Chief executive Atsushi Katsuki told CNBC that Asahi Super Dry has the largest sales already from the China market with a growth rate of double digit every year.
Asahi once invested in China, but decided to pull back in 2017 due to the lack of premiumized products and very low prices.
