Myanmar Beer takes competition head on with new logo

With increasing competition from foreign brands, the Myanmar Beer Limited (MBL) has taken up an expansion plan to face new rivals. Myanmar Brewery has a market share of two-thirds in the domestic market and has undertaken an overhaul exercise to sustain its business volume.

Myanmar Beer is keen on innovations and new products to attract new customers. Buoyed with encouraging response, foreign brands have started increasing production capacities.

The local Myanmar Brewery Limited, the manufacturer of Myanmar Beer and four other brands, is facing tough competition from global brands. The breweries from Netherlands and Denmark are pushing beer consumption in Myanmar.

Carlsberg from Denmark and Dutch brand Heineken from Netherlands have commenced their operations in Myanmar, formerly Burma. After the economic reforms, global brands started penetrating into Yangon of Myanmar, posing a major challenge to local majors such as Myanmar Beer, as reported by Reuters.

MBL registered sales volume of K254 million ($198 million) from sales of Myanmar Beer, Andaman Gold and Myanmar Double Strong in 2014. Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings has a majority stake in the company. Kirin bought 55 percent in MBL in August from Singapore-listed Fraser and Neave for $560million.

Myanmar Times reports that Myanmar Brewery is planning to double its sales volume over next five years. The company has just launched a new log in Yangon. Hiroshi Fujikawa, the new CEO of the company, said: "To do that we will have to rely not just on the growth of the market, but on innovation and new products to attract new customers to drink more beer".

"The beer market experienced double-digit growth in 2015 driven by foreign investment", he added.

Myanmar Brewery Ltd is the military-linked maker of old favorite Myanmar Beer brand. The new foreign brands are posing a major challenge to traditional Myanmar brands. Dutch brand Heineken is just expanding within the launch of few months. It's planning to double the capacity of brewing unit located in Yangon from 25 million liters to 50 million liters.

Lester Tan, Managing Director, APB Alliance Brewery Company, which makes Heineken, said: "The company had to accelerate an expansion plan, which it had expected to execute after three or four years. Heineken volumes have just gone through the roof. It has taken us all by surprise."

To face the competition from foreign brands, Myanmar Beer Ltd has launched a new product. It has undertaken promotional campaign about the sleeker bottle beer targeting the younger generation, as per a report by Business Insider. Myanmar Beer Ltd is also sponsoring hip-hop and electronic dance music concerts.

Despite, its lion's share in the market, Myanmar Beer is not sitting complacently, but has immediately taken up a restructuring plan to enhance its image and products to attract new consumers in Myanmar.