Following the relaxation of the provision of alcoholic beverages at restaurants due to the cancellation of the state of emergency, major beer makers are moving to strengthen production and sales in anticipation of a recovery in the declining demand for commercial beer. It has come out.
Of these, Asahi Breweries has responded to the cancellation of the declaration, increasing the shipment volume of its main brand commercial beer to 3.5 times this month, and Sapporo Breweries has increased the total production volume of commercial beer this month compared to last month. Is planned to be tripled and quadrupled next month.
On the other hand, Kirin Beer is in full swing to sell 3 liter products in PET bottles, which are even smaller than the 7 liter barrels that have been the mainstream until now, for servers in stores that pour mugs and the like.
Requests such as shortening business hours continue depending on the region, and it is difficult to predict the number of customers due to the spread of telework, but demand in small stores is increasing because it is easy to manage inventory and it is difficult for loss to occur.
The person in charge of the ramen shop in Taito-ku, Tokyo, who switched to the 3 liter size, said, "Although there are fewer customers than before Corona, we are able to serve fresh beer."
Beer companies have positioned commercial beer-based beverages as a pillar of sales, and are facing a critical moment as to how far they can recover the sales that have fallen due to the corona damage while responding to the needs of restaurants in anticipation of the infection situation.