Sapporo Holdings Ltd., the nation's fourth-largest brewer by volume, intends to increase beer production as much as fivefold in Vietnam by 2019 as a shrinking population at home crimps demand.
Sapporo, which started brewing beer in Vietnam last month, plans to boost annual output to as much as 200,000 kl from 40,000 kl in 2014, Yoshiyuki Mochida, president of Sapporo International, said in a recent interview in Tokyo.
Japan's biggest brewers, including Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. and Kirin Holdings Co., plan acquisitions across Southeast Asia to access wider margins after beer shipments slumped in 2010 for a 14th consecutive year. Sapporo will compete with them in Vietnam, where the government estimates that demand for beer will more than double by 2020.