Yet more happoshu
Suntory Ltd. may be Japan‘s largest whiskey distiller, but it has never had much luck with its beer division. Now Suntory aims to bring its beer business into the black by increasing the sales of its Magnum Dry, an happoshu launched last June. Suntory targets combined sales of 57.8 million cases (20 x 633ml bottles) of regular beer and happoshu this year, up 14% from 1999. It also targets a beer market share of 10%, which would be the first double-digit figure in its 37-year brewing history. Since September 1999, the brewer has secured a 10% market share on a single month basis thanks to strong sales of Magnum Dry. However, industry observers believe that the growth rate of happoshu is going to slow down..
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