Kirin Brewery Business Strategy For 2025

TOKYO, Thursday January 16, 2025 –Kirin Brewery Company, Limited (Kirin Brewery) will contribute to consumers and society by taking on the challenge of creating consumer value and promoting CSV*1 management with all employees, in order to "create the future of alcohol and continue to deliver the joy of connection with people and society" even in a rapidly changing environment.
1 Creating Shared Value. Combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.

1. 2024 Year in Review

The overall beer market in 2024 is expected to be approximately 97% of the previous year's level. The beer category is estimated to account for more than 55% of the market for the first time in 17 years, due to the launch of new beer products and the strengthening of the beer category by various companies.

With the theme of “challenging to create customer value together”, we have strengthened our efforts with two strategies at the core: “establishing a strong brand system” and “steady growth of businesses and brands that provide new value.” Total beer sales were 111.8 million cases*2, and in the beer category, our mainstay KIRIN ICHIBAN brand posted year-on-year growth thanks to the effect of brand renewal, while Kirin Beer Harekaze, our first new standard beer brand*3 in 17 years, launched in April, led the market with a sales growth of about 30% compared to our target. The Kirin Hyoketsu® brand, centered on standard and unsweetened RTDs*4, expanded its market reach by attracting customers of all ages, and overall sales volume of the brand reached a record high since its launch in 2001.
2 Large bottle (633ml) equivalent
3 Excluding premium, craft, limited sales destination products, and existing brand derivatives
4 Abbreviation for Ready to Drink. A canned cocktail.

Sales in 2024

Beer total	RTD Total	Whiskey,Spirits and Liqueur	Non-alcoholic beverages total
111.8 million boxes （-1.9%）	53.4 million boxes （+5.8%）	27.8 billion yen （+5.1%）	3.3 million boxes （-2.5%）

Beer and non-alcoholic beverages: 633 ml large bottle x 20 bottles (equivalent), RTD: 350 ml x 24 bottles (equivalent)
*Sales volume is calculated in units of 100,000 cases by converting KL into 10,000 cases and rounding off the first digit.
Non-alcoholic beverages are the sum of non-alcoholic beer-tasting beverages and non-alcoholic RTDs.

2. 2025 Initiatives

In 2025, we will continue to work on our business strategy based on the theme of “Creating Customer Value Together”, with the two-pronged approach of “Creating the Future of Alcohol” and “Developing Brands to Create Customer Value”, and by delivering value to our customers, we will achieve sustainable business development by balancing social and economic value. We will achieve sustainable business development by delivering value to consumers, thereby balancing social value and economic value.

(1) Two-pronged Approach to Create the Future of Alcohol

First, we will link Kirin Brewery brands with actions to connect people to people and people to society, and will communicate the new slogan, "The Joy of Connection, Into the Future" throughout the year to encourage people to feel the positive value of alcoholic beverages. Second, as a company engaged in the alcoholic beverage business, Kirin Brewery will fulfill its responsibility toward the future by working toward the eradication of harmful alcohol consumption, fostering a culture of moderate drinking, and creating a healthy and happy society. Kirin Brewery will fulfill its responsibility toward the future.

(2) Brand development to create customer value

Kirin Brewery will take on the challenge of creating innovation that will create the future of alcohol while creating new consumer value by grasping the changes and needs of consumers and society, cultivating our brands, and providing the joy of connecting with people and society.

Sales target for 2025 (in terms of value)

Beer total	RTD Total	Whiskey,Spirits and Liqueur	Non-alcoholic beverages total
±0	+6%	+6% (+6%)	+12%

*Based on value (vs. previous year)

About Kirin Holdings

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in Japan and across the globe.

Kirin Holdings can trace its roots to Japan Brewery which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007, Kirin Holdings was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.

Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group aims to become “A global leader in CSV* creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.” Going forward, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.

*Creating Shared Value. Combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.