Japan & Singapore: Sapporo Breweries bringing Yebisu beer to Singapore

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. will start selling Yebisu beer in Singapore on Tuesday, June 15, hoping to capitalize on strong demand for Japanese-brand products among local consumers, the Kyodo News Plus reported on June 9.

The Japanese brewer said it has selected the 350-mililiter Yebisu can from among the varied lineup of the long-established beer brand for sale through local distributors.

Pokka Pte. Ltd., a local subsidiary of the Sapporo group, and wholesaler Makoto-Ya (S) Pte. Ltd., which deals with Japanese food and beverages, will act as sales representatives, a Sapporo spokesperson in Tokyo told NNA.

Since its establishment in 1890 in Tokyo, Yebisu beer has had a strong following and is one of Sapporo's mainstay brands.

The company has put more weight on Sapporo Premium beer in its market strategy in Singapore, where Yebisu beer is mostly sold through online stores on a parallel import basis.

"We once sold Yebisu through a local agent but have not exported it in recent years because our focus has been on Sapporo Premium, which is also our key brand" the Sapporo official said.

The company did not disclose the price of Yebisu beer except to say it will likely be about 1.2-fold of that of Sapporo Premium. The sales target has yet to be announced.

The company expects its presence in the local market to increase with the impending launch of Yebisu beer via the distribution network of Pokka, the market leader for tea beverages in Singapore.

Makoto-Ya, for its part, handles a wide variety of sake, shochu and other kinds of Japanese alcoholic beverages. Sapporo hopes to take advantage of the wholesaler's customer base built around Japanese retailers.

Sapporo considers the post-coronavirus Singaporean market for imported beer as highly promising.

"We think Singapore is a very attractive market for imported beer given the high percentage of beer consumption among alcohol beverages and the fact that a fairly large segment of consumers crave Japanese products and luxurious brands," she said.

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 .