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On February 20 Scotland-headquartered BrewDog dropped a bombshell, announcing that it was partnering with Budweiser China (an arm of AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer) and would “start brewing BrewDog’s Punk IPA, Hazy Jane and Elvis Juice beers by the end of March at its Putian craft brewery near the south-east coast.”
In addition to Scotland, BrewDog currently brews its beers in the US, Germany and Australia, allowing the now global craft brewer to get its products to customers more quickly and reducing the costs and carbon emissions associated with shipping around the world.
The China alliance will let BrewDog use “Budweiser China’s extensive sales and distribution network” to tap into the country’s fast-growing craft beer market.
And as BrewDog CEO James Watt explained to the Financial Times it comes at a time when craft beer growth in the UK has become increasingly “challenging.”
This from Watt’s announcement…
Today, we are excited to share the news of the next partnership – one that will bring our beers to every corner of the world’s biggest beer market. China. About a fifth of the world’s beer is drunk in China, and yet the country accounts for less than one per cent of our global sales – this is something we are determined to change.
We have been in the market since 2015 and we opened our bar in Shanghai in 2020. But to say we’ve barely scratched the surface of this dynamic and fast-growing market would be a massive understatement.
China is one of those markets where you really need to work with an established partner who has a sales and distribution infrastructure in place and local market knowledge. That’s why we’re really pleased to have signed a partnership agreement with Bud China to enable us to fast track our Chinese business.
Craft beer is growing massively in China – the market is about ten times bigger than it was a decade ago – so this is a huge deal for our business and our ambitions going forward.
According to The Guardian, “the company had also agreed on a deal with an unnamed affiliate of Budweiser China to expand BrewDog in South Korea, with options to collaborate in other Asian markets. BrewDog has another joint venture in Japan with Asahi. It said Japanese sales had doubled since the deal was announced in September 2021.”
BrewDog, which currently runs a branded bar in Shanghai, has plans to add up to 10 additional bars throughout Greater China in the next five years to help showcase its beers.
“We’ve always wanted to go for growth in China, Watt added, now we can do it from a position of strength, while remaining fiercely independent.”
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