Hong Kong & UK: San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong signs beer distribution agreement with UK’s Shepherd Neame

The Hong Kong arm of the Philippines beer brand is introducing the products of the oldest brewery in England to the Macau market, Macau Business Daily reported on January 21.

San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong has reached an agreement with the English Brewery Shepherd Neame to distribute the English beer products ‘Spitfire’, ‘Whitstable Bay Pale Ale’ and ‘Whitstable Bay Blonde Lager’ in Macau and Hong Kong.

The contract was announced on January 21 and is effective until the end of 2018, according to information released by the Hong Kong arm of the Philippines-based multinational.

“The company believes that the distribution arrangement allows it to broaden its product brand portfolio and benefit from a growth in revenue in addition to the sales of the company’s own San Miguel products,” the board of the Hong Kong company explained.

Shepherd Neame is one of Great Britain’s oldest brewers. In spite of being an independent company, it exports beer to more than 35 countries under different brand labels with a production of around 281,000 brewers’ barrels a year.

For San Miguel Hong Kong, this is only one of the first deals to distribute products from other renowned international beer brands in Macau and Hong Kong.

“The Company is also currently in talks with other imported international premium/craft brands for the distribution of their products,” the Board of the company explained.

This initiative by San Miguel Hong Kong comes as part of a strategy to offset the net loss of HK$14.6 million (US$1.87 million) recorded for the first six months of 2015, justified by the termination of the distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev International, the company that sells beer products under the Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois brands.

22 January, 2016