Japan’s Nikka whisky maker ramps up investment to increase exports
Japan’s Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. has said it will invest 6 billion yen ($38 million) this year on storage facilities in a bid to boost its production capacity and tap into surging demand overseas.
The Asahi Breweries Ltd. unit, known for its Taketsuru, Yoichi and Miyagikyo brands, said the investment including on ramping up the barrels at its Tochigi plant north of Tokyo will increase the company’s storage capacity by around 10 percent compared with 2021.
The company, which this year is marking the 90th anniversary of the establishment of its predecessor, Dai Nippon Kaju Co., already invested 6 billion yen between 2015 and 2017, and 6.5 billion yen between 2019 and 2021 in boosting its whisky production.
Photo taken in November 2020 shows a Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. billboard in the Susukino entertainment district of Sapporo, Hokkaido. (Kyodo)
“The more we can make, the more we can sell,” Asahi Breweries President Kazuo Matsuyama told a press conference on June 5, as he underscored the company’s strategy to accelerate exports of its high-priced products.
Experts say Japan’s wide variety of climates help the country to produce smooth and elaborate whisky brands that attract overseas drinkers.
But as whisky production requires long maturation periods of 10 years or over, makers are facing a supply shortage.
Suntory Holdings Ltd., Japan’s biggest whisky maker, has invested around 70 billion yen since 2013 on its facilities, including the distilleries for its Yamazaki and Hakushu brands in Osaka and Yamanashi prefectures.
Kirin Brewery Co. also spent around 8 billion yen through 2021 to upgrade its distillery in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Whisky exports were worth about 56.05 billion yen in 2022, up 21.5 percent from the year before and marking an over 14-fold increase from 10 years earlier, according to the National Tax Agency.
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