Japan: Premium beers on rise in Japan

The beer shipments by five major brewers for August, posted the first rise in eight months, increasing 2.1 % from a year earlier. The premium beer sales were particularly strong, and brewers such as Suntory, Sapporo Breweries Ltd., Kirin Brewery Co. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. increased production to meet rising demand, Asahi IHT announced on September 23.

Sales of Suntory's Premium Malt's jumped 140 % year on year. In August, sales of Sapporo's Yebisu beer rose 10 % year on year, and those of Kirin's Brau Meister increased six fold. Sales of Asahi's Jukusen tripled in the January-August period from year-earlier levels.

Yuko Kitakaze, a senior planner at Dentsu Inc.'s Center for Consumer Studies said :"By drinking premium beer about once a week, consumers, who maintained a thrifty lifestyle during the recession, perhaps want to feel that they have some leeway for spending in their lives".

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