Two beer brands – Tiger and ABC Extra Stout – have returned to the Dutch beer maker Heineken’s portfolio of brands from the military-owned Myanmar Brewery Limited (MBL).
The two brands were produced and distributed in Myanmar by MBL since 1995. After EU economic sanctions were imposed on Myanmar, Heineken left the country and MBL took over the licences.
The licences expired last year and Heineken officials said MBL is not interested in extending them. Therefore, the two brands will now be brewed and distributed by APB Alliance Brewery Company Limited (APB-ABC), a joint-venture between Heineken and local tycoon Aung Moe Kyaw-owned Alliance Brewery Company Limited.
APB Alliance Brewery Company Limited is a joint venture company in which Heineken, through its wholly owned subsidiary Heineken Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, has a controlling 57 percent stake.
“We are excited to welcome Tiger and ABC Extra Stout back to our line-up of products in Myanmar. It feels like a true homecoming, and we are pleased to bring these two excellent beers to the beer stations, restaurants and supermarkets in Myanmar,” Lester Tan, managing director, APB Alliance Brewery Company Limited, said at a press conference.
“Both have a strong presence in Myanmar, but working with the Heineken quality control team in Amsterdam, as well as regional marketing teams in Singapore, we plan to apply globally-benchmarked standards of beer production and marketing tools to ensure consumers enjoy the high quality and excitement synonymous with these brands.”
Heineken claims Tiger is one of the faster-growing premium beer brands in the world in 2015 and the firm’s goal for Tiger is to achieve the same sort of growth in Myanmar.
Tiger and ABC Extra Stout will now be brewed at APB-ABC’s $60-million brewery in Hmawbi township, near Yangon which opened in July last year. The brewery has a technical capacity of 330,000 hectolitres per year, but Tan said the company plans to extend the capacity up to 450,000 hectolitres.
The factory also brews Heineken for the premium segment of the market and local brand, Regal Seven, a lager beer developed for Myanmar.
Heineken said Tiger and ABC Extra Stout beers brewed in Myanmar will now undergo added quality control measures in Amsterdam, where a team of experts will inspect and test the products monthly.
The brands have also been redesigned to reflect a more modern look with Myanmar being the first country to feature the new bottle designs. Tiger now sports a premium appearance, with the added prominence of its emblematic tiger. ABC Extra Stout has also updated the design of its label, which now features increased gold accents, a reflection of the discerning quality within.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
