Japan: Asahi to release a new beer product in April in an effort to recover from last year’s cyberattack

Asahi Breweries, Ltd. has announced that it will release a new beer product on April 14 in an effort to recover from a cyberattack last year, the Japan News reported on March 2.

The company hopes that the launch of its new Asahi Gold product will be a turning point for the company, which has been struggling since the cyberattack caused a system failure.

Beer companies in Japan are strengthening their product lineups ahead of a change to the liquor tax law in October, which is set to reduce beer taxes.

Asahi has been promoting the new product as having a refreshing barley taste, with about 150% more malt than previous products. The campaign aims to differentiate the new brand from the company’s flagship product, Asahi Super Dry, which it promotes as dry and crisp.

A 350-milliliter can of Asahi Gold is estimated to sell at convenience stores for around \237. The company aims to sell the equivalent of 4 million cases this year, with each case containing 20 633-milliliter bottles.

Asahi’s shipments stagnated significantly due to the system failure, which occurred at the end of September 2025. Alcohol beverages sales among all of the company’s product categories were lower in 2025 than any previous year, with beer sales down 4%. Shipments are expected to fully resume in April.

“We will revive Asahi as a strong brewery,” said President Kazuo Matsuyama at a press conference held in Tokyo on February 25.

Upcoming revisions to the liquor tax law have encouraged other beer companies also to develop new strategies. The beer industry had focused on developing products categorized as “third-segment” quasi-beers in order to minimize the liquor tax applied to them. However, the companies are now turning those quasi-beers into genuine beer products.

03 March, 2026