That sinking feeling

Total shipments of beer and beer-like drinks in Japan dropped 3.7 percent in 2011 from a year earlier to a record low of 442.39 million cases. Although declining beer consumption is nothing new to Japan, last year’s decline was partly due to the massive March earthquake and tsunami that disrupted supplies, industry data, which was released on 17 January 2012, showed.

Although price wars in the various beer categories are nothing new, last year still saw a genuine novelty: an all-malt beer priced as an Ersatz-beer.

In August 2011, the supermarket chain Aeon started selling its own-label beer Barreal Lager Beer priced at YEN 158 (USD 2.05) per 350 ml can, making it one of the cheapest real beers in the Japanese market.

Aeon sells the new product at its 3,700 retail outlets with an annual sales target of 100 million cans. The beer is brewed in Korea with malt and German hops, Aeon said.

The value-priced beer competes with products from major Japanese brewers whose consumers continue to be price conscious.

Aeon said its pricing is made possible by outsourcing the manufacturing of the beer to a South Korean brewer and using Aeon group’s distribution networks. The company in 2010 began selling a beer-like alcoholic beverage priced at YEN 88 (USD 1.14) per 350 ml can and has since posted sales of 160 million cans.

Despite Aeon pushing a competitively-priced all-malt beer, shipments of regular beer fell 4.1 percent to 221.03 million cases, accounting for less than half of the total shipments for the first time at 49.96 percent. Sales of inexpensive, so-called third-category beers grew 1.8 percent to 153.34 million cases.

One case holds 20 x 633 ml bottles.

When it comes to brewers’ ranking, Asahi managed to stay on top of the market with a 37.9 percent market share, followed by Kirin with a 36.2 percent share.

Suntory came third at 13.3 percent, ahead of Sapporo at 11.6 percent, it was reported.