Indonesia: Kirin Brewery and Daesang to form seasoning venture in Jakarta
Kirin Brewery Co. announced on February 6 it would invest $80 million together with South Korean food-processing company Daesang Corp. to form a seasoning joint venture in Indonesia, according to Asia News.
Kirin, Japan's second-biggest brewer by sales, said the investment is part of its strategy of strengthening its health-food business by sharing management resources with its South Korean partner and shifting production overseas to cut costs.
Beer companies here face a shrinking domestic market as the population ages and consumers shift to other alcoholic drinks, forcing brewers to diversify their business lines more or move into overseas beer markets.
The new venture, which will be equally owned by Kirin's seasoning unit and Daesang, will make use of the South Korean company's existing production facility in Jakarta. It will start producing 6,000 tonnes of nucleotide seasonings per year from mid-2007, Kirin Brewery said.
Nucleotide seasonings are widely used in Asia in soups and sauces.
The Japanese brewer also said it plans to make its seasoning unit wholly owned by 2007. The unit is currently 34 percent-owned by Japan's top pharmaceutical maker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Kirin added that it will sell its seasoning plant in western Japan to a Japanese company in 2008.
As of 0149 GMT, shares in Kirin Brewery were down 0.3 percent at 1,464 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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