 Brewer/bottler #607 | | | Name | Sapporo Breweries Limited |
| | Address | 247 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo (Pre-1964)
7-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (Post -1964) |
| | | | | | | | Extra info | The origins of this company are in Sapporo, Hokkaido during the Meiji period, where the Hokkaido Development Commission (Kaitakushi) established many businesses. Seibei Nakagawa, a German-trained brewer, became the first brewmaster of the Kaitakushi Brewery in June 1876, and the first Sapporo Lager was produced at that time. Privatized in 1886, the Sapporo brewery became the centerpiece for the Sapporo Beer Company.
In 1887, another company, the Japan Beer Brewery Company was established in Mita, Meguro, Tokyo, and began producing Yebisu Beer. The competition between Sapporo and Japan Beer, as well as competition with the Osaka (now Asahi) and Kirin breweries led to a 1906 merger of Sapporo, Japan, and Osaka breweries into the Dai-Nippon Beer Company, Ltd., which formed a near monopoly on the Japanese market until after World War II.
After 1949, Dai-Nippon was split into Nippon and Asahi breweries, with the Nippon Breweries In Tokyo resuming production of Sapporo beer in 1956 and renaming itself to the present name, Sapporo Breweries, in 1964 .In January of 1957, Sapporo Beer went on sale nationwide. This led to a sharp uptick in sales of our beer, which had plateaued. In January of 1964, the company name was changed from Nippon Beer to Sapporo Beer Co. Limited. The business address was also changed from 247 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo to 7-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Yebisu Beer was relaunched as a separate brand in 1971, marketed as a German-style barley beer. Sapporo Black Label beer was launched in 1977.
In 2006, Sapporo announced they would be acquiring No. 3 Canadian brewer Sleeman in a $400-million all-cash deal.
On February 15, 2007, Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund, a Cayman Islands-registered fund management subsidiary of Warren Lichtenstein's Steel Partners and the biggest shareholder (18.6% as of Feb. 2007) of Sapporo Holdings, submitted a proposal to the company seeking approval to raise its stake to 66.6%.
Despite its name, Sapporo beer is not exclusively brewed in Sapporo. Sapporo is also brewed in Sendai, Chiba, Shizuoka, and Kyushu. Most Sapporo beer sold in North America had been brewed at the Sleeman brewery in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Most Sapporo beer sold in the United States is now brewed by Sapporo Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Having put its first soft drink, Ribbon Citron, on the market as early as 1909, Sapporo placed ever-increasing emphasis on its nonalcoholic beverage line. By the late 1980s, this product segment included traditional and medicinal teas, Beans brand canned coffees, and a variety of carbonated sodas and mineral waters. The company concentrated on introducing all-natural, wholesome drinks with fruit flavors and light carbonation in the early 1990s.
Key Dates:
1876: Japan's first brewery is built in Sapporo by the government. 1886: Government sells the brewery to a private trading company.
1887: Group of Japanese businessmen buy the brewery and reorganize it as Sapporo Brewery Ltd.
1906: The Sapporo Brewery, the Nippon Brewing Company, and the Osaka Brewery are amalgamated as Dai Nippon Brewery Co., Ltd.
1949: Dai Nippon is divided into Nippon Breweries, Ltd. and Asahi Breweries, Ltd.; Nippon Breweries is the successor to Sapporo Brewery but initially markets only Nippon Beer.
1956: Sapporo Beer is reintroduced into the Japanese market.
1964: Nippon Breweries changes its name to Sapporo Breweries Limited; through a joint venture with Guinness plc, the company begins selling Guinness Irish stout in Japan.
1971: Yebisu Beer is reintroduced as a premium, all-barley beer; company enters the wine market as an importer.
1976: Production of wine begins at the Katsunuma Winery, west of Tokyo. 1977: Company introduces the first draft beer, Sapporo Black Label.
1984: The company's first foreign subsidiary is established in the United States. 1994: Sapporo-developed Yebisu Garden Place, a downtown Tokyo office complex featuring retail outlets and condominiums, opens and becomes the company's new headquarters.
1995: Guinness begins contract production of Sapporo Premium Lager for European distribution.
1998: Production of Sapporo Premium Lager begins in China.
Per Nikolay Gyulemetov:
In 1943, as Japan realized it was in a long war with no certain victory in sight, the government decided to further mobilize and streamline the home front and economy (similar to Germany and its "Total War" mobilization around the same time). One of the things the government did was to mandate all beer producers to adopt simple, standardized labels and caps. Also, the beers were split in two categories: Civilian (Family) and Industry (as in restaurants and hotels) use.
Kirin and Dai-Nippon (the precursor of Sapporo AND Asahi) Breweries did as told and thus these caps were born. They were ONLY used between 1943 and 1949. After that the breweries rebranded themselves (and Dai-Nippon was split into Asahi and Sapporo) and adopted new designs. |
| | | | | | | Other names used for this Brewer/bottler | | Name 1 | Dai-Nippon Brewery Co. Ltd. |
| | Extra info | 1906--1949
Divided into Nippon and Asahi in 1949 |
| | Name 2 | Dai-Nippon Beer Company Ltd. |
| | | Name 3 | Nippon Breweries Ltd. |
| | | Name 4 | Sapporo Beer Co. Ltd. |
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