Leading alcoholic beverage producer Suntory Ltd. on Tuesday pledged to make its beer production division profitable in 2001 for the first time in nearly four decades.
"We can bring the beer division into the black in 2001," Suntory director Hirofumi Maruyama said as he announced this year's marketing plan at a news conference. The company's beer division was founded in 1963.
Sales figures suggest that Suntory's share of the beer and "happoshu" sparkling malt liquor market in 2000 came to around 10.4 percent, surpassing the 10 percent level for the first time ever, the company said.
Happoshu brews taste similar to conventional beer but are typically cheaper because their low-malt content puts them in a lower tax bracket.
On a quantitative basis, Suntory sold the equivalent of 57.31 million cases of beer and happoshu last year. One case comprises 20 bottles of beer with each bottle containing 633 ml. Suntory's marketing program for 2001 aims to bolster sales by 6 percent to 61 million cases.
Suntory traced the company's growing share in 2000 to the success of its Magnum Dry happoshu. The company plans to make happoshu sales account for 35.3 million cases, more than half the combined 2001 sales goal.
Happoshu sales account for roughly 25 percent of Japan's beer market.