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Global
Who we are
Our journey began with small family-owned store in Osaka, more than 100 years ago. Even now that we have grown into a global company, our founder's spirit always underpins what we do.
It began with the vision of our founder Shinjiro Torii. In 1899, he opened a store with the vision of selling Western-style wine and liquor in Japan. However, the taste of imported wines did not suit Japanese palates and his wines did not sell well at first.
But Shinjiro did not give up. He worked tirelessly to sell different kinds of imported liquors in Japan and to develop his own wine. After many challenges and failures, in 1907, he launched Akadama Port Wine. Akadama Port Wine was made to suit to Japanese palates, and became popular in Japan. This brand is still enjoyed today as Akadama Sweet Wine. This success was not the end of his story. Following his success with wine, he decided to create an authentic Japanese whisky to suit Japanese tastes.
In 1923, he entered the whisky business by starting the construction of the Yamazaki Distillery, the very first malt whisky distillery in Japan. This is where the first Japanese authentic whisky, Suntory Shirofuda (White Label) was born, and the now world-famous Yamazaki Japanese whisky was created. Fifty years later, we opened the Hakushu distillery at the base of the Southern Japanese Alps.
Suntory has continued to thrive after Shinjiro's huge success with Akadama and Japanese whiskies. We now offer many popular products both in Japan and throughout the world. In 1936, we opened our own winery, Tomi No Oka winery. In 1983, we acquired Chateau Lagrange, a vineyard in Bordeaux, France. The 1960s saw us expand our portfolio to a new category, beer, with the vision of creating the perfect beer. After more than decades of dedication, we launched The Premium Malt's, a famous beer.
Suntory has also expanded its business to non-alcoholic beverages. In 1981, Suntory introduced a canned oolong tea at a time when carbonated soft drinks and juice mainly dominated the non-alcoholic beverage market. Suntory Oolong Tea has been one of the long-selling brands ever since, loved by generations of consumers. Suntory’s expansion into this market continued during the 1990s, when we launched our long-standing canned coffee brand BOSS.
Suntory's history in China began in 1979 with the export of whisky. In 1981, Suntory actively participated in China's market by sponsoring the first international marathon in China, the 1981 Beijing International Marathon. In 1984, Suntory invested in the establishment of Jiangsu Suntory Food Co., Ltd., the first beer joint venture in China, which contributed to the development of China's beer brewing technology. Suntory (Shanghai) Beer Co., Ltd., established in 1995, took the lead in introducing Refreshing Beer, which is popular with consumers. Shanghai Suntory Meilin Food Co., Ltd., established in the same year, launched a range of drinks centered on oolong tea and fresh orange juice in 1997.
In 1999, Suntory established Suntory (China) Holding Co., Ltd. to consolidate all Suntory companies in China. We also invested nearly US$100 million in 2001 to build a modern beer production enterprise, Suntory Beer (Kunshan) Co., Ltd., to meet the growing market demand. In 2006, Suntory acquired Shanghai Fosters Brewery Co., Ltd., which further consolidated Suntory's leading position in the Shanghai beer market. In 2017, Beam Suntory China Inc. was established, just three years after Beam had joined the Suntory group, making us the third-largest premium spirits company in the world*.
Meanwhile, Suntory has continued its expansion into other global markets. In 2009, we acquired the Frucor Group in Oceania and the Orangina Schweppes Group in Europe. In 2013, we began operations in Vietnam with the establishment of Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd, and founded Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ltd after acquiring both brands. In 2018, we started a joint venture in Thailand, with the establishment of Suntory PepsiCo Beverage Thailand Co., Ltd.
*Source: IWSR2017
Notes: Retail sales of global spirits and RTD by value, excluding national spirits, cana, raki, other whisky, economy (value) brandy, economy vodka (value and low-price) in Eastern Europe and CIS countries, and including Japanese Whisky (other whisky of Japanese origin)
History in china
Awards
Suntory (China) Holding Co., Ltd.