BrewDog agrees new deal with Budweiser to make beers in China

Craft beer maker BrewDog is set to expand operations in China after partnering with Budweiser to brew some of its top-selling beverages and open more bars in the country.

The Scottish company said the joint venture would enable it to capture more of a fast-growing market, which is already the world’s largest beer consumer and producer, but accounts for less than 1 percent of its current sales.

Under the arrangement, BrewDog beers, including Punk IPA, Elvis Juice and Hazy Jane, will be produced at Budweiser’s craft brewery in Putian, eastern China’s Fujian province.

Hosting production in China also allows it to “significantly reduce” carbon emissions and logistics costs by not importing the beer from Europe, the company added.

It marks BrewDog’s second joint venture in Asia, with the first launching in Japan in September 2021 as part of a partnership with multinational beverage giant Asahi, owner of the Grolsch and Fuller brewing operations.

Since announcing the latest deal, the private company said sales in Japan have more than doubled.

BrewDog CEO and co-founder James Watt hailed the “transformative partnership” that would help deliver the group’s beers “to every corner of the world’s largest beer market.”

He added: “Chinese drinkers love craft beer, but the industry is still very new. In Budweiser China, we have found a partner who shares our growth vision for BrewDog in China and is perfectly placed to support our rapid growth in the region.

“We’ve always wanted to significantly increase our share in China – this new JV allows us to do just that as we strive to continue to grow our business globally.”

The joint venture is expected to be fully operational by the end of March.

In addition, BrewDog said it had struck a deal with a subsidiary of Budweiser China to expand into South Korea and would open multiple new hangouts across China by 2026 to add to its only bar in Shanghai.

In early September last year, the company blamed huge cost increases, including rising energy prices, on its decision to close six pubs in London and Scotland.

In a social media post revealing the closures, Watt accused the ‘zombie’ [UK] Government of ‘pure rabbit in the headlights paralysis’ as he warned that the UK hospitality sector was in danger of losing half of its pubs and bars to rising costs.

Ambitious: BrewDog boss James Watt hailed the “transformative partnership” that would help deliver the group’s beers “to every corner of the world’s largest beer market”

Watt himself has come under fire in recent years for multiple scandals involving his personal conduct and BrewDog’s business practices.

Two years ago, one letter signed by a group called ‘Punks with Purpose’ claimed he was in charge of a culture of fear that left some employees “burnt out, scared and miserable” and suffering from mental illness.

Watt apologized to those who signed the letter and launched an independent investigation into the company’s culture and practices, including a company-wide salary review, staff mental health support and an ethics hotline.

But a few months later, a BBC Scotland documentary interviewed former US employees who claimed he acted inappropriately with women at work, Watt denied.

Shortly afterwards, the Guardian newspaper reported that he had hired private investigators to investigate people he believed had waged a smear campaign against him.

In response to the reports, Watt said it was necessary to hire the private investigators as he had been victim of a two-year plot by ‘malicious individuals’ to damage him and BrewDog.