Sapporo Breweries — BrandWiki

Sapporo Breweries

Overview

Sapporo Holdings Limited

native name	サッポロホールディングス株式会社
native name lang	ja
romanized name	Sapporo Hōrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha
type	Public
industry	Alcoholic beverage Food Beverages
traded as	tyo: 2501 Nikkei 225 component
foundation	1876 (as Kaitakushi Beer Brewery) September 1, 1946 (as Nippon Beer)
former names	Nippon Breweries, Ltd. (1949-1964) Sapporo Breweries Limited (1964-2003)
founder	Government of Hokkaido
location	Ebisu
location city	Shibuya, Tokyo
location country	Japan
key people	Masaki Oga (president)
products	Beer
production	616.374 megaliters
subsid	Sapporo Breweries Pokka Sapporo Sleeman Breweries Anchor Brewing Company Stone Brewing
homepage	https://www.sapporoholdings.jp/english/

Sapporo Breweries Limited (サッポロビール株式会社) is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo, the oldest brand of beer in Japan, was first brewed in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in 1876 by Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo. The company purchased the Canadian company Sleeman Breweries in 2006.

Sapporo Breweries has five breweries in Japan, the Sleeman brewery in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and Sapporo Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S. The main brands are Sapporo Draft; Yebisu; and Sleeman Cream Ale. Sapporo Premium has been the best-selling Asian beer in the United States since Sapporo U.S.A., Inc. was founded in 1984.

In 2003, Sapporo Breweries restructured into a holding company, Sapporo Holdings Limited (サッポロホールディングス株式会社), with the brewery division taken over by the second incarnation of Sapporo Breweries. Sapporo Breweries is a member of the Mitsui keiretsu.

History

Sapporo Breweries originated in Sapporo, Hokkaido, during the Meiji period, where the Kaitakushi established many businesses. Seibei Nakagawa, a Germany-trained brewer, became the first brewmaster of the Kaitakushi Brewery in June 1876, and the first Sapporo Lager was produced at that time following the completion of the plant in September of that year. Privatized in 1886, the Sapporo brewery became the centerpiece for the Sapporo Beer Company.

Breweries

Japan

Sapporo has five breweries in Japan.[10] The first, Sendai Brewery, was opened in 1971 in Natori, Miyagi, and was among the first to use a computerised brewing system.[11] Shizuoka Brewery in Yaizu was opened in 1980,[12] Chiba Brewery in Chiba was opened in 1988,[13] Hokkaido Brewery in Eniwa, Hokkaido was built in 1989,[14] and the Kyushu Hita Brewery was opened in Hita, Ōita in 2000.[15]

Canada

Sleeman Breweries was purchased by Sapporo Brewery in 2006 for $400 million.[16] Sleeman was restarted in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada by the great grandson of John H. Sleeman, the owner of the original Sleeman brewery founded in 1834.[17] The first Sleeman brewery ceased operations by 1933, when their liquor license was revoked for bootlegging, specifically, smuggling beer into Detroit, Michigan. The company's current products are based on the family's original recipes, and recipes from Unibroue (which brewery Sleeman had previously purchased). Sleeman Breweries / Sapporo Canada currently consists of four Canadian breweries: Sleeman in Guelph, Ontario, Okanagan Spring in Vernon, British Columbia, Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec, and Wild Rose Brewery in Calgary, Alberta. As of 2017, Sleeman Breweries also owned 4.2% of The Beer Store.[18]

United States

In the United States, Sapporo operates as Sapporo U.S.A., Inc., established in 1984.[19][20]

Sapporo beers are brewed, canned, and bottled for Sapporo Brewing Company by City Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

On 3 August 2017, it was announced that Sapporo Breweries would acquire the Anchor Brewing Company.[21] In June 2022, Stone and Sapporo announced that they had reached an agreement for Sapporo to purchase Stone Brewing for $168 million, with the purchase expected to close in August 2022.[22][23] The acquisition has since closed.[24]

Vietnam

The Sapporo Vietnam brewery is situated in Đức Hòa, Long An. Its products include 650ml cans of premium beer for the Australian and Mexican market.[26] Sapporo Beer sold in 650ml cans in California are no longer brewed in Vietnam.

Brands

The company produces a range of pale and dark lagers, including Sapporo Draft (Premium in North America) and Yebisu.[27] In the Sleeman brewery in Canada they brew Sleeman branded beers such as Sleeman Cream Ale, as well as Sapporo Premium.[28]

The company also produces a malt based soft drink, Super Clear, which was launched in 2002 as a low-alcohol beer, then changed in September 2009 to an alcohol free malt drink.[29][30]

Yebisu

Yebisu (ヱビス) is one of Japan's oldest brands, first brewed in Tokyo in 1890 by the Japan Beer Brewery Company. Through a complicated set of mergers and divisions, the brand was acquired and eventually retained by the modern-day Sapporo Brewery. The brand lay dormant during the post-World War II era, until it was resurrected in 1971. It has been brewed continuously ever since.[31]

Yebisu comes in two main varieties: Yebisu (Premium), a Dortmunder/export lager, and Yebisu Black, a dark lager. There are also occasional special varieties that are limited in distribution area and time. In April 2007, for example, there was a green-label "The Hop" variety.

The modern-day Yebisu is positioned as Sapporo's "luxury" beer label. Sapporo describes it as a beer brand with "a touch of class".[32] It is a 100% malt beer. Yebisu is notable in that its Japanese name includes the now-obsolete kana character we (ヱ or ゑ) for the even-older ye reading, an anachronism in keeping with historical kana orthography. This can lead to confusion when romanized, as the "Y" is not pronounced. The Tokyo neighborhood of Ebisu was named for the beer, which was originally produced there, though its name is spelled with a conventional e kana instead of we. The pronunciations of "Yebisu" and "Ebisu" are the same.

Space Barley

Using barley grown from seeds which spent five months on board the International Space Station in 2006, Sapporo created a limited Space Barley brew. The project was a joint one between the Russian Academy of Sciences, Okayama University, and Sapporo. Tasters described the flavour as no different from similar beers, which researchers point to as important in showing that producing food in space for long duration flights is possible. Six packs of the space beer were sold in a lottery system for 10,000 yen.[33][34]