Contribute to Cultivating New Human Connections with a Diverse Range of Beers

Beer, which provides a little happiness every day and can enrich people’s lives, has been popular in Japan for a long time and has brought joy to consumers. However, there is now really only one kind of beer that people are drinking on the Japanese beer market. Meanwhile, there are over 150 different styles of beer around the world. Kirin Brewery feels responsible for not being able to provide consumers with the inherent richness of beer and has committed to entering the craft beer business with the hope of spreading the diversity and fun of these different beer styles.

Furthermore, in recent years, human connections are fading due to remote work and the digitalization of communication. We believe that selecting your favorite beers from a diverse range of craft beers and talking with friends and family about their differences will create a good opportunity for communication.

The major challenge of making craft beer a staple for Japanese consumers is something that we at Kirin Brewery cannot achieve alone. Therefore, we will take on this challenge together with breweries in Japan and around the world that share our ambition.

First, we are striving to spread the awareness of craft beer with SPRING VALLEY, a core brand, at the center of our activities. We entered the craft beer business in 2015 and opened SPRING VALLEY BREWERY, a combined brewery and restaurant, in Daikanyama, Tokyo. Following that, we launched a small beer server for restaurants, Tap Marché, and a draft beer subscription service, Home Tap, that is a direct channel for consumers, and a mail-order website, DRINX. On top of that, we drastically increased the opportunities to enjoy beer at home and the awareness of craft beer by selling canned products at mass retailers.

Second, because creating opportunities to experience the deliciousness and fun of craft beer is important in building a market, we are using Tap Marché to expand the number of domestic restaurants throughout Japan at which people can enjoy craft beer. Tap Marché is compatible with products of not only our company and partner breweries, but also those of breweries to which we are not connected for a total of more than 20 craft beers. Each restaurant can select the beers they want to serve, providing ways to enjoy craft beer, such as experiencing a wide range of flavors and pairing them with foods. The service has been well received. Additionally, we are also expanding the number of opportunities to enjoy craft beer outside of restaurants, such as by hosting Japan’s first-ever craft beer event, HELLO CRAFT BEER WORLD, together with 13 Japanese breweries in 2023.

Our third initiative is the launch of SPRING VALLEY Hojun 496, SPRING VALLEY Silk Ale [White], and SPRING VALLEY JAPAN Summer Craft Ale [Kaoru] canned goods at mass retailers so that craft beer can be enjoyed in people’s daily lives. We are also increasing the number of opportunities for consumers to get their hands on beer, including creating special corners in craft beer sections together with retailers and distributors, in order to create more connections with them.

The fourth is quality support for craft breweries. While consumers’ interest in craft beer is growing, there are many who feel craft beer is peculiar and that there are hits and misses, similar to the past image of local beers. In order to dispel this image, we need to improve the quality of all craft beers. Thus, we are leveraging the scientific knowledge and technology that we have cultivated over our long history in the beer brewing business to provide sensory evaluation analyses and quality, sanitation management, and other technologies to craft breweries nationwide. We currently support approximately 30 breweries, but we plan to increase that number to 40 or 50 by the end of the year.

Going forward, we will continue to provide the value of diverse human connections that beer has delivered throughout its history to consumers, breweries, raw material producers, and others. We will also contribute to the growth of the whole craft beer category while also revitalizing regional food cultures and industries related to craft beer.

*Stated information as at the date it is made