Born in Italy since 1963, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, a global leading high-end beer brand promoted by Asahi Group officially entered the Chinese market. It launched an iconic flagship "House of Peroni" in Shanghai in August, reflecting Asahi's full confidence in the "resilient" Chinese market despite facing some challenges such as the impact of the ongoing pandemic.
China is the largest beer market worldwide. In 2021, China alone accounted for almost 20 percent of the total beer volume sold globally, according to Kinyi Choo, managing director of Asahi Beer Asia. Choo regarded China's rapid development and growing "quality consumers" as one of the opportunities to further expand and build its brand in the market.
Kinyi Choo, managing director of Asahi Beer Asia Photo: Courtesy of Asahi Beer Asia
Chinese consumers are seeking quality lifestyles and premium products, especially among the young generation. "It is the market on top of everyone's agenda," Choo said.
Asahi has become one of the leading players in the Japanese market. Going forward to 2030, it also wants to be "one of the leading players in the Chinese market," as it is important to "drive the growth of the premium segment with our portfolio" in the market. It has introduced top brands such as Peroni, and will expand market and drinking occasions with their portfolio to capture the opportunity, Choo said.
Meanwhile, Asahi has been focused on providing premium products across Asian markets and hopes to grasp more opportunities as many Asian markets are still at a very early stage in terms of beer consumption and culture, Choo said.
For instance, Peroni has entered into a partnership with the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team, in which the company believes that they are creating an alliance of two iconic brands with high quality to introduce the quality lifestyle to the consumers, according to Choo.
The region is very clearly focused on driving economic prosperity of the people living here, said Choo. He believes that the Asian markets including the Chinese market will continue to prosper as people are very "resilient."
China's domestic beer market has maintained rapid growth even in the face of the epidemic.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the beer production in China in 2021 reached 35.62 million kiloliters, increasing 5.6 percent year-on-year.