A licensing agreement through 2012 has been signed, Baltika said Thursday in a statement. It will start brewing the Japanese brewer's flagship Super Dry beer next month and will sell it in Russia and former Soviet Union.
Russian sales of Kronenbourg lager, licensed from Scottish & Newcastle, more than doubled in 2007, and purchases of Carlsberg's Tuborg beer, Russia's best-selling foreign brand, gained 70 percent, Baltika said last month.
"Super Dry will grow at a quick pace, significantly outstripping the rate of growth of the licensed segment as a whole" this year, Baltika president Anton Artemyev said in the statement.
Asahi, whose Super Dry is the Japanese beer-market leader, is expanding sales of food and soft drinks as beer consumption weakens at home.
Russia will become the sixth country where Asahi beer is produced under license. The company's Russian sales totaled 1.9 million liters (16,000 barrels) in 2007. Baltika aims to boost Asahi sales "by several times" in western Russia, the source of just one-seventh of Asahi's total sales in the country last year, Artemyev said in a conference call.
Sales growth for licensed beers in Russia will continue to "noticeably" outpace the local market, which is forecast to expand from 3 percent to 5 percent in the medium term, he said.
Asahi will become the fifth foreign beer produced by Baltika, which now makes Tuborg, Kronenbourg, Carlsberg and Foster's. The company "is open for other possibilities" in producing licensed beer and has been working on new agreements, Artemyev said.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.