Posted with permission of just-drinks.com
Source: Chris Brook-Carter


Thailand's largest beer brand, Chang Beer, is to be launched in the US next year.

Owner TCC has appointed Pacific Spirits as the US importer of the beer, which will be a lighter version in order to "reach out to a wider market segment".

Chang Beer is owned by TCC whose chairman Khun Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi said: "Chang Beer was launched in cooperation with Carlsberg Breweries of Denmark five years ago. We have since become the number one selling beer in Thailand.

"Following this extraordinary achievement, production capacity has been expanded to meet overseas demand. We are now aggressively moving to enter the US and have appointed Pacific Spirits the sole US importer of Chang Beer and all other TCC Group products."

Chang Beer is the product of a joint venture, which was formed in 1991 to brew Carlsberg Beer in Thailand, between the TCC Group and Carlsberg.

However, to better utilize the capacity of the venture's 300m litre plant, Chang Beer was launched in 1994. It is brewed under Carlsberg's supervision.

The TCC Group and Carlsberg extended their relationship in 2000 with the establishment of Carlsberg Asia Limited, a 50:50 joint venture partnership between the two beer companies.

In its first full year of operations Carlsberg Asia will have total revenues of US$770m and a total production of 17m hectolitres of beer.

The TCC Group is one of the largest business concerns in South-East Asia, with annual revenues in excess of US$2 billion. TCC, a privately-owned concern, is primarily focused on the production of beer and distilled liquor products.

But the group also has a large and diverse portfolio of additional holdings in Thailand and other locations around the world. The TCC Group currently holds 80% of the Thai liquor market and over 70% of the beer market with annual sales in excess of 100m cases.