China Resources Snow Breweries Limited (CR Snow) on Tuesday officially announced that it had leveraged on its assets to restructure Jiangsu Santai Beer Co., Ltd thus obtaining the rights to use the Santai trademark and the marketing channels for Santai Beer. At the same time, it has established China Resources Snow Breweries (Taizhou) Co., Ltd and invested USD40 million in the high-tech industrial park at Gaogang district in Taizhou city.
The new premises are expected to produce 200,000 kiloliters of beer each year.??Of late, this has been the second operation by CR Snow in the eastern China market. Shortly prior to this, CR Snow had secured its leading market position in Zhejiang and obtained a controlling stake in Zhejiang Xihu Beer Co., Ltd with RMB268 million. Most industry players believe that, through successive strategies adopted in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, CR Snow will further increase its share of the beer market in the highland area of eastern China this year and its leading market position will be further entrenched. ??Its dominant position in the eastern China market is only a snapshot of the prosperous business that CR Snow enjoys in the entire China market. With national sales volume topping the charts for six consecutive years, CR Snow is already the leading beer company in the China market.
In 2004, CR Snow acquired the China operations of the Australian beer company Lion Nathan with an investment of RMB1.45 billion and made full inroads into the Jiangsu market. Through expansion and subsequent construction plans, it now has four factories in Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Nanjing with modern manufacturing facilities that can produce one million kiloliters of beer each year. Its repertoire encompasses the full range of bottled, canned and draft beer products that are processed and packaged professionally. Its strategy of capturing a prime slice of the southern Jiangsu market is thus successful and complete. Since 2006, CR Snow has been topping production and sales charts in the Jiangsu market for consecutive years. In 2010, it even hit a historical high and amassed a market share of about 40% as it continued to build upon its strengths as the market leader.
Over the past years, CR Snow has chosen the must lucrative southern market in Jiangsu. Restructuring Santai Beer marks CR Snow’s progressive expansion plans in the Jiangsu market. Moving beyond southern Jiangsu, it is now setting its sights on central Jiangsu. Many industry players think that CR Snow has adopted a wise marketing strategy by restructuring Santai Beer. Located in Taizhou, the central part of Jiangsu, Santai Beer is close to the southern Jiangsu market which is the base of CR Snow. Such vantage points will be beneficial to CR Snow’s expansion plans in the central Jiangsu market.
Santai Beer is the one of the most established beer manufacturers in Jiangsu province and the Santai series of beers is a renowned Jiangsu brand. With the Santai trademark commanding a premium reputation in Jiangsu province, the beer had been widely popular along the northern and southern reaches of Yangtze River. In Jiangsu province, Santai Beer has generated the greatest sales volume compared to fellow industry players. However, it had not been spared from harsh market competition brought about by corporate mergers, acquisitions and restructuring in the beer industry. Under such a backdrop where Santai Beer was fully aware of the need to be aligned with and even collaborate with stronger brands, it had taken the initiative to bring in new talents instead of fighting a lone battle, which is unhealthy.
CR Snow indicated that China Resources Snow Breweries (Taizhou) Co., Ltd would abide by the principles of hygienic production, energy efficiency, low carbon emissions and environmental protection in the setting up of its infrastructure. It will strive to reach or even surpass national standards in areas such as energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction and the setup of eco-friendly equipment and facilities, thus fully reflecting CR Snow’s high level of commitment to its corporate social responsibility. With production technology and equipment complying with the most advanced international and local standards, CR Snow aims to provide consumers with beer products that are of consistently high and reliable quality.??When the setup of China Resources Snow Breweries (Taizhou) Co., Ltd is complete, it will leverage on its efficient abilities in brand integration, strengths in upholding technological excellence, a premium corporate management system and its experiences in marketing and operations to spur the healthy development of the beer industry in Jiangsu as well as further integration of the diverse brands of beer in the Jiangsu market.
About China Resources Snow Breweries (China) Limited
Established in 1994, China Resources Snow Breweries (China) Limited is a professional beer company involved in the production and management of beer products nation-wide. Its headquarters is in Beijing, the capital of China, and its shareholders are China Resources Enterprise Ltd and SABMiller, the second largest beer conglomerate in the world. Currently, CR Snow is managing close to 70 beer factories in China. By managing its Snow Beer brand and other brands that are spread over 30 territories and counting, it has occupied a total market share of 19.8% in China’s beer industry. In 2009, CR Snow sold more than 8.37 million kiloliters of beer, marking an annual growth of 15.3%. For five consecutive years, the company’s total production and sales volume has been leaps and bounds ahead of those generated by other beer companies in China. The Snow Beer brand alone brought about sales volume of 7.24 million kiloliters in 2009, registering a further increase of 18.8%. This has entrenched the leading position of this brand of beer in the global market.
About Snow Beer
In 1964, at a product competition attended by the movers and shakers of China’s beer industry, a new product defeated all the established brands of beer in China to emerge as the champion. This type of beer, with its lingering fragrance reminiscent of a blossoming flower and rich foams that are as white as snow, subsequently became known as “Snow Beer”. ??In 2002, China Resources Snow Breweries (China) Limited stepped up efforts to shape Snow Beer into a national brand. Since then, Snow Beer has been widely adored by consumers throughout China for its light and refreshing taste, as well as its progressive and innovative brand personality that is all about challenging the norms and striving for excellence. It has become the most popular brand of beer among the young generation today. ??In September 2007, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China affirmed the Snow Beer trademark as a renowned China trademark.
In 2005, the Snow Beer brand alone generated sales volume of 1.58 million kilolitres, making it the top-selling brand of beer in China. In 2006, Snow Beer became the brand with the fastest rate of growth and highest value in China’s beer industry. Its brand value was estimated to be worth RMB11.185 billion. Following the success of 2006 when Snow Beer generated the highest sales volume compared to other brands of beer in China, it moved on to hit another historical high in 2007. With sales volume of 5.1 million kiloliters, it topped the sales chart in China’s beer industry once again for the third consecutive year. The brand value of Snow Beer also rose to RMB13.658 in 2007. In 2008, sales volume of the Snow Beer brand increased by 19.1% to reach 6.1 million kiloliters and for the fourth consecutive year, it remained the top-selling brand of beer in China. At the same time, the brand also topped the global sales chart for beer products and its brand value rose to RMB15.3 billion. In 2009, the value of the Snow Beer brand increased to RMB37.726 billion.