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(Courtesy Guinness)
Looking to further its reach into China, the world’s #1 beer market, Guinness has opened its first brand experience in Shanghai.
Launched on Dec 19th The Guinness Gatehouse, “will introduce locals and visitors to a diverse range of Guinness brews and merchandise, as well as a range of beer and food pairings in an onsite restaurant,” according to the Drinks Business.
The new “experience” is actually several different experiences…
The Brewing Vat is a 280º installation showcasing Guinness’s brand history and identity.
The Surge & Settle is a destination bar where consumers can purchase pints of Guinness, as well as other beers in the brewer’s portfolio such as Foreign Extra Stout, Citra IPA, and Hop House 13, and cocktails.
The pairing restaurant offers a chance to try Diageo’s beer range paired with food, and includes a Guinness & Oysters bar.
(Courtesy Guinness)
And the Back Bar is a private-dining room surrounded by murals designed by artist Ken Wong, whose work was recently exhibited as part of the Asian Illustration Festival at Shanghai’s Powerlong Museum.
The launch of Shanghai’s Guinness Gatehouse comes on the back of a steady rise in Chinese tourists visiting the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin over the past 10 years. China is now the 8th largest market for Guinness Storehouse. Last year, the Storehouse welcomed around 82,000 visitors from across Asia, well over half of which were from China.
Big Beer conglomerates are in a race own as much of China’s impressive beer market as possible…
Diageo first signed an exclusive five-year deal with beer producer AB InBev to distribute Guinness in mainland China in 2017.
Budweiser is now more popular in China than it is in the United States, with sales surpassing those in the US for the first time in 2018. AB InBev, home to mega-brands like Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois currently operates 40 breweries across China and it hopes to own more.
In December Danish brewer Carlsberg officially launched its first local brewery in China dedicated to premium and craft beer production.
