Heineken Asia Pacific

History

In 1931, Fraser & Neave formed a joint venture with Holland’s Heineken to venture into the brewing business. The brewery, Malayan Breweries Limited produced Tiger Beer, and later acquired Archipelago Brewery, which produced Anchor Beer.

In 1990, Malayan Breweries changed its name to Asia Pacific Breweries.

In 2004, APB acquired 90% of DB Breweries.

In 2010, APB acquired PT Multi Bintang Indonesia from Heineken International BV

In August 2012, Fraser & Neave has accepted an offer from Heineken to acquire its stake in APB for US$4.1 billion. Shareholders approved the deal during the extraordinary general meeting held on September 28, 2012.

In 2013, APB was merged with Heineken Asia Pacific and was renamed to Heineken Asia Pacific to reflect their role as Heineken's regional hub.

Key brands

The company’s main brands includes Tiger Beer, Anchor, Baron’s Strong Brew, Bintang Beer, DB Bitters, Tui, ABC Extra Stout and Archipelago Brewery Company range of beers. It also brews Heineken under a license from its parent company.

Tiger beer

Launched in 1932, Tiger beer became Singapore's first locally brewed beer. It is a 5% abv bottled pale lager. APB's flagship brand, it is available in more than 60 countries worldwide. The flagship brand has entered in a number of beer tastings competitions and has performed well. At the 2011 World Quality Selections, organized by Monde Selection, the brand won a Gold Quality award. According to Brand Finance’s Top 100 Singapore brands 2012 Report, Tiger is amongst Singapore’s top 10 most valuable brands.

Tiger in popular culture

The "It's Time for a Tiger" slogan for Tiger Beer has run for decades since its inception in the 1930s.

The writer Anthony Burgess named his first novel Time for a Tiger (the first part of the Malayan trilogy The Long Day Wanes) after the advertising slogan. The beer was popular in the Malaya of the 1950s, where Burgess was working.

Burgess reveals in his autobiography that, when his Time for a Tiger was published, he asked the manufacturer, then Fraser and Neave, for a complimentary clock with the Tiger beer slogan. The brewery declined to offer this or any other free gift to him. But, fourteen years later, when Burgess was more famous, it relented. In 1970, the company offered Burgess the privilege to consume any of their beers free of charge while in Singapore. However, in his own words Burgess wrote in response: "But it was too late, I had become wholly a gin man."

The beer was also seen in the 2002 movie The Transporter with Jason Statham. Crates of Tiger appeared in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder. Also, in the 2001 Hong Kong action thriller The Accidental Spy it's the preferred beer of Buck Yuen (played by Jackie Chan) who orders it by name in a bar and, also has an empty bottle of Tiger by his bed in the next scene as he wakes up from a dream.

In the movie The Odd Angry Shot about the Australian Special Air Service during the Viet Nam war, Tiger is considered the beer of choice among American and Aussie troops. Tiger is seen as a favourite among British troops during the Malayan emergency in the film The Virgin Soldiers.

Heineken

Heineken Lager Beer is another flagship product of APB. It is a 5% abv pale lager that was first made in 1868 and brews under a license from its parent company.

Bintang Beer

Bintang Beer, is a 4.7% abv Pilsner brewed by APB's subsidiary PT Multi Bintang Indonesia in Indonesia.

Tui Beer

Tui, is a 4% abv pale lager brewed by APB's subsidiary DB Breweries in New Zealand.

Anchor Beer (Hainan, China)

Asia Pacific Breweries opened the first mass production brewery on Hainan Island in the capital city of Haikou in 1997. The new brewery produced Tiger Beer and the now discontinued budget ‘Aoke’ but mainly focused on Anchor Beer. For almost a decade Anchor Beer was the dominate beer on Hainan Island. From 2007 realizing the potential revenues from the booming tourist industry in Hainan, the Tsingtao Beer Company made successful efforts to reduce Anchor’s monopoly and as of 2014 outside of the capital Haikou, most small shops stock primarily Tsingtao.

As of 2014 there are several unique Anchor Beer types available only in Hainan. These include: Anchor Red Crown 4.4% (similar in taste and branding to Anchor Smooth), Anchor Lite 4.0%, Anchor ‘Classic’ 4.0%, Anchor Ice 4.0% and Anchor 97 4.0%.

In addition to the Anchor Beer family the brewery in Haikou also produces Heineken and two versions of ‘Hainan Beer’. One a 3.2% budget version and the other a 4.0% ‘premium’ version with a bright blue logo tailored for tourists and the growing number of international resorts.

In late 2015 the company launched 'Anchor Radler' in Hainan Island. A light 1.8% beer mixed with lemon. Sold in 300ml bottles the target market appears to be trendy clubs and afternoon drinkers. The logo is exactly the same as the Radler logo used on Bintang Radler, which also comes in 300ml bottles only.

The Asian Pacific Brewery Challenge (Hainan)

While APB actively supports responsible drinking through their ‘drink-savvy’ campaign, a popular pastime of expatriates living in Hainan is to take part in the ‘APB Challenge’. Founded by longtime Hainan expatriate James Farquhar, the first APB challenge took place following a 'Hash House Harrier' event in Sanya on June 22, 2009. APB Hainan produces 5 types of Anchor Beer, 2 types of Tiger Beer (regular Tiger and Tiger Crystal), 2 types of Hainan Beer and Heineken, totaling 10 different beers. Only two are available in cans (Anchor Red Crown and Anchor Lite), only some in 330 ml bottles but all in 600 or 550 ml "big" bottles. The APB challenge is to find and drink all 10 types of the big-bottle versions in one day. From 2012 the challenge has become increasingly difficult as some product lines (Anchor 97 and Anchor ‘Classic’) are only available in rural villages outside of the main population centers of Haikou and Sanya.

Distribution