China: Tsingtao Brewery increased its presence in Beijing beer market

Tsingtao Brewery increased its presence in the medium- and low-end beer market in Beijing, with market share by 20% in 2005, compared to less than 4 % in 2004, Asia Pulse communicated on December 19.

Sui Zhanping, the general manager of the company's North Sales stated that so far the Beijing Tsingtao Brewery had sold 150,000 tons of beer this year, more than 20% of the market capacity of 600,000 tons of medium- and low-end beer products in the Chinese capital.

The Beijing Tsingtao Brewery now holds three breweries in Beijing, with combined annual production capacity of 400,000 tons. Sui said his company had started a project to expand the capacity of the Three-Ring Brewery with newly increased annual production of 50,000 tons, and the expansion project will be completed in March 2006.

The Tsingtao Brewery Group, which entered the Beijing market in 2000, has taken measures to expand its sales and to attract beer dealers. Now, the Tsingtao Brewery has 600 to 800 dealers and some 30,000 retailing terminals in the city.

Hou Xiaohai, the market superintendent of the China Resources Snowflake Brewery noted that his company would put the Snowflake brand beer onto the market for medium- and low-end products next year. The retail price of plastic bottled Snowflake beer is 1.5 to two yuan each bottle. According to Hou, the China Resources Snowflake Brewery will not take more action for competition, and just increase the exposure of Snowflake beer on the market in Beijing.

The Beijing Beer Asahi Co. Ltd, a Sino- Japanese joint venture, which produces Beijing brand beer, will give priority to retailing terminals.In 2006, the company plans to grasp some 20,000 superstores with a sales volume of 100,000 tons, thus to hold 10% market share in the city.

Confronting the current beer market in the city, Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co. Ltd has expanded its sales team to more than 200 people compared with less than 40 salesmen at the end of 2004.

The Yanjing Brewery has signed special agreements with dealers at the secondary and third level and will pay much attention to sales promotion at retailing terminals.

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