Kirin Brewery Business Strategy for 2022

● Maximize corporate value by refining the brand
● Make products that solve stakeholder and societal issues – not just for the sake of profit – CSV mindset
● Make beer more attractive and revitalize the market

TOKYO, Thursday January 6, 2022 – Kirin Brewery Company, Limited (Kirin Brewery) enters 2022, the first year of its soon-to-be announced 2022-2024 Medium-Term Management Plan. In its business Strategy for 2022, Kirin Brewery will focus on consumers and society in general by refining its brands to ‘solve issues they are facing,’ not just selling products for the sake of sales – the essence of CSV*1 – and instill a ‘CSV mindset*2’ in its employees.
1: Creating Shared Value. Combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.
2: For more, please see CSV Management.

1. 2021 Year in Review

In 2020, the beer market continued to be affected by the spread of COVID-19 and the liquor tax revision(https://www.mof.go.jp/tax_policy/summary/consumption/d08.htm), and in 2021 the market finished at about 95% of the previous year's level. Kirin Brewery responded to the changing demand through combining its consumer-oriented strategies with a CSV mindset, and outperformed the market with 124.1 million cases of large bottles (633ml x 20 per case, approximately 96% compared to the previous year). In the beer category in particular, the KIRIN ICHIBAN and KIRIN ICHIBAN Zero Sugar*3 mainstay products performed well, increasing approximately 104% from the previous year and far exceeding the overall market.

In addition, Kirin Brewery nurtured new growth drivers, such as SPRING VALLEY Hojun 496, launched in March 2021, and Kirin Home Tap, a subscription-only draft beer service that also began full-scale rollout in March. These efforts helped to make beer more attractive and revitalize the market.
3: According to food labeling standards (for products containing less than 0.5g of sugar per 100ml).

Sales results for 2021

Beer total	Beer	Happo-shu (Low-malt beer)	New Genre	RTD (canned cocktails)	Whiskey, Spirits and Liqueur	Non-alcoholic beverages
124.10 million cases (-4.1%)	37.51 million cases (+4.1%)	30.61 million cases (+0.9%)	55.99 million cases (-11.2%)	74.89 million cases (+4.7%)	22.6 billion yen (-14.5%)	3.87 million cases (+10.9%)

Unit: Beer and non-alcoholic beverages: 633 ml (large bottle) x 20 bottles; RTD: 250 ml x 24 bottles
Sales figures are calculated by converting KL (kiloliters) into 10,000 cases.

2. Initiatives for 2022

In 2022 Kirin Brewery will continue its business strategy centered on building a strong brand system and fostering new growth drivers, with the aim of refining its brands and maximizing corporate value. In response to rising demand for beer following the revision of the liquor tax, Kirin Brewery will further strengthen the KIRIN ICHIBAN brand while popularizing craft beer, aiming for a year-on-year increase in total beer sales volume.

(1) Building a strong brand system

Kirin Brewery will steadily foster its mainstay brands and build a strong brand range that will remain popular even after the October 2020 liquor tax revision. Consumers continue to show a high level of interest in the beer category, which received a tax reduction as a result of the liquor tax revision, and demand for beer is expected to increase in 2022 as well. Therefore Kirin Brewery will refocus on the growth of the KIRIN ICHIBAN and KIRIN ICHIBAN Zero Sugar, aiming to make the KIRIN ICHIBAN brand recognized as ‘Japan’s beer.’ In the new genre category, Kirin Brewery believes that the need for products with clear value even at low prices - accelerated by COVID-19 - will continue; so Kirin Brewery will aim for renewed growth of Honkirin with a further evolved umami.

(2) Developing new growth drivers

In the craft beer business, Kirin Brewery will deliver high value-added beer to more consumers by renewing SPRING VALLEY Hojun 496 and strengthening Kirin Home Tap’s craft beer lineup, and Kirin Brewery will continue to take on the challenge of making beer more attractive and revitalize the market through high-quality drinking experiences.

In the on-premise market, by strengthening the Tap Marché and TAPPYPDF：799KB offerings, Kirin Brewery aims to increase opportunities for consumers to enjoy better tasting beer as well as create places that bring people together; all the while solving issues facing the restaurant industry as well as society in general.

Sales targets for 2022

Beer total	Beer	Happo-shu (Low-malt beer)	New Genre	RTD (canned cocktails)	Whiskey, Spirits and Liqueur	Non-alcoholic beverages
132.30 million cases (+6.6%)	47.30 million cases (+26.0%)	28.50 million cases (-6.9%)	56.60 million cases (+1.0%)	82 million cases (+9.5%)	25 billion yen (+8.7%)	4.6 million cases (+17.8%)

Unit: Beer and non-alcoholic beverages: 633 ml (large bottle) x 20 bottles; RTD: 250 ml x 24 bottles
Sales targets are calculated by converting KL (kiloliters) into 10,000 cases and rounding off the first digit.

About Kirin Holding

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.