Type | Public |
---|---|
CSE: LION.N0000 | |
ISIN | LK0291N00001 |
Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
Predecessor | Ceylon Brewery Limited |
Founded | 1881 |
Headquarters | , Sri Lanka |
Key people |
|
Products | Beer |
Revenue | LKR58.571 billion (2022) |
LKR5.273 billion (2022) | |
LKR3.668 billion (2022) | |
Total assets | LKR41.067 billion (2022) |
Total equity | LKR19.928 billion (2022) |
Owners |
|
Number of employees | 263 (2022) |
Parent | Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC |
Website | lionbeer |
Footnotes /references [1] |
Lion Brewery or Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC is a predominantly Sri Lankan owned and operated brewery. The company is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange and its stock is part of the S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index. Lion Brewery produces the highest selling beer, Lion Lager, in both Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The Ceylon Brewery was the first brewery established in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1849 by Sir Samuel Baker [2] [3] (1821–93) as a cottage industry, catering for the British colonial tea plantations in the hill country retreat of Nuwara Eliya. Nuwara Eliya was the ideal location for a brewery, with its cool climate and natural spring water. [4] It wasn't however until 1881 [5] that it began brewing on a commercial basis, with the Ceylon Brewery Company, managed by Messrs Bremer and Pa Bavary. [6]
In 1884, the brewery was taken over by the Mohan Meakin Brewery of India, [2] [7] who were already producing asia's first beer brand in India, Lion beer, which they started to produce in Sri Lanka too, it is still produced here and remains popular in Sri Lanka. Mohan Meakin later sold out to Ceylon Brewery, In 1911, the brewery was acquired by G. W. Lindsay White [5] [8] and received limited liability company status, as the Ceylon Brewery Limited. [2] In 1921, brewery was extensively rebuilt with the establishment of several new producing plants. [2] [5]
In the 1930s and 1940s the brewery was managed by Arthur Wood-Hobley and in 1948 the company opened an office in Colombo. In the 1950s the company expanded its product range under the management of John Bagshawe Hampson introducing Lion Lager, Lion Pale Ale, Sinha Pilsner and Lion Stout. In 1950, the company introduced canned beer to the Sri Lankan market but this was later withdrawn due to lack of demand. [2] In 1962 it launched the Jubilee Ale (in celebration of the company's golden jubilee), [2] which received a gold medal at the Monde Selection and gained second place at the Brewers and Allied Exhibition in London. In 1982, it released the Royal Pilsner, commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Sri Lanka, replacing the Sinha Pilsner.
In 1993, the Ceylon Brewery became a subsidiary of Carson Cumberbatch & Co Ltd, a diversified group of Sri Lankan businesses. [4] In 1996 the Carlsberg Group acquired a 25% share in Ceylon Brewery [2] and the company was subsequently renamed Lion Brewery, with Ceylon Brewery remaining as a holding company. [9]
In 1998, Lion Brewery established a new 300,000 hL/yr capacity brewery in Biyagama, just outside the capital Colombo, with the Nuwara Eliya operations closing in July 2001. [2] [5] The capacity of the Biyagama brewery has subsequently been increased to 750,000 hL/yr. It is the market leader in Sri Lanka with an 82% market share. Lion is currently exported to the United States, Canada, the UK, Japan, Australia, Africa and the Maldives. In the Maldives it has a dominant market share. It also operates a joint venture with the Carlsberg Group, South Asia Breweries Ltd, with four breweries in India, including one each in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal and Kolkata. [10]
In 2011, Grupo Modelo appointed Lion Brewery as the national distributor of Corona in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
In 2012, the company was appointed the sole importer and distributor of Diageo, as well Moët Hennessy, whose brands include Guinness, Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, J & B, Hennessy, Moët & Chandon and Dom Perignon. [1]
In November 2014, Lion Brewery and its subsidiary Pearl Springs (Private) Limited purchased Millers Brewery, transferring production of the Millers brands, including Three Coins, to its facility in Biyagama. [11] [12]
Lion Brewery has also brewed Carlsberg and Carlsberg Special Brew under license from the Carlsberg Group since 1993. It has also brewed Guinness under licence since 1996. [4]
Carlsberg A/S is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg. Other brands include Tuborg, Kronenbourg, Somersby cider, Holsten, Neptun, Russia's best-selling beer Baltika, Belgian Grimbergen, Fix, one of Greece's oldest brands and more than 500 local beers. The company employs around 41,000 people, primarily in Western Europe, Russia and Asia.
Holsten Brewery is a brewing company founded in 1879 in what is now Hamburg's Altona-Nord quarter. The group now has seven breweries in Germany. Its nationally distributed premium brand is the pale lager Holsten Pilsener. The company was acquired by the Carlsberg Group in 2004.
Mohan Meakin is a large group of companies which started with Asia's first brewery incorporated in 1855 by Edward Dyer at Kasauli in the Himalayan Mountains in India under the name Dyer Breweries.
The Carib Brewery is headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago. It produces Carib and Stag beers and a range of shandy products. The main brewery is located in Champs Fleurs, Trinidad, while Carib also has breweries in Saint Kitts and Nevis and Grenada.
Beer in Africa, especially lager, is produced commercially in most African countries, and varieties of beer are also made by indigenous people. Beer is served in a range of locales, from neighbourhood shebeens to upscale bars. Many countries have standardized beer bottle sizes, which are cleaned and re-used, and so when buying beer at a store often people must pay a deposit on the bottle as well as the price of the beer. An alternative to glass-bottle beers is local beer sold in tetra-pak style paper cartons.
The beer market in Denmark is dominated by the brands Carlsberg and Tuborg. Since Tuborg was acquired by Carlsberg in 1970, Carlsberg has held a near-monopoly. A number of regional breweries, however, managed to survive, and most of them merged into Royal Unibrew in 2005. As of 2020, Ratebeer lists over 300 active breweries in Denmark, most of which are microbreweries.
Beer is a very popular alcoholic beverage in Turkey. Commonly, lager type beers are popular.
East African Breweries Limited, commonly referred to as EABL, is a Kenyan-based holding company that manufactures branded beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages.
Oriental Brewery or OB is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.
Beer in Asia began when beer was produced in Sumer, Mesopotamia circa 6000 years ago. It was introduced by Europeans in the 19th century, with modern breweries established in British India, the Dutch East Indies, China, and Japan. Asia's first modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European brewing technology.
Kasauli Brewery and Distillery, at Kasauli in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh state of India, was established in late 1920s during the British Raj by Edward Abraham Dyer. It started producing Asia's first beer brand, the "Lion Beer", and India's first single malt whisky, the ""Solan No. 1". Both of these brands are still in production. After the swap of brewery at Kasauli to Solan distillery and vice versa in 1835, presently Lion beer is produced at Solan and Solan No.1 whisky is produced at the Kasauli distillery using some of the original equipment including the copper pot still. The production of Lion beer was moved 25 km east to Solan Brewery at Solan, due to water scarcity, after civilian Kasauli hill station resort town came up around the brewery. Lion beer was originally an India Pale Ale (IPA), but the beer style was changed to lager in 1960s.
SABMiller was one of the top five global brewing companies, and had a range of over 150 beers, including international beers such as Pilsner Urquell, and Miller Genuine Draft, and local ones such as Gambrinus and Castle Milk Stout.
The beers of the Caribbean are unique to each island in the region, although many are variants of the same style. Each island generally brews its own unique pale lager, the occasional stout, and often a non-alcoholic malta beverage. Contract-brewing of international beers is also common, with Heineken Pilsener and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout being the most popular. The beers vary between the islands to suit the taste and the brewing method used.
Skol Lager is a lager that was developed originally by Ind Coope breweries in Alloa, Central Scotland. In 1958, Graham's Continental was launched and quickly changed to Graham's Skol to give a Scandinavian impression. The name was later revised to just Skol.
Tusker is a beer brand owned by East African Breweries, with over 700,000 hectolitres being sold in Kenya per year. It is also the largest African beer brand in the Diageo group. It is a 4.2% ABV pale lager. The beer's slogan "Bia yangu, Nchi yangu" means "My beer, My country" in Kiswahili.
Dundee was a Rochester, New York–based brewing company that produced ales and lagers. It was part of the Genesee Brewing Company, owned by North American Breweries which started marketing the brand's first lager in 1994 as J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown. Honey Brown quickly gained a good reputation and won awards, most notably the gold medal at the 2004 World Beer Cup.
Wells & Young's Brewery was formed in 2006 from a merger of the brewing operations of Charles Wells Ltd and Young's Brewery. Charles Wells initially had a 60% stake and Young's 40%. In 2011, Charles Wells took full control when it bought Young's 40% stake. Wells & Young's is now responsible for brewing, distributing and marketing Charles Wells' and Young & Co's brands at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford.
Three Coins is a Sri Lankan beer brewed by McCallum Breweries (Ceylon) Ltd, a subsidiary of Cargills Ceylon PLC.
Brewing began in Sri Lanka in 1881 primarily to meet the needs of the colonial tea planters. Despite the country's tropical weather, the preferred beer styles have remained relatively unchanged, with strong stouts remaining popular.
Intoxicants in Sri Lanka are legal in certain contexts. One can legally buy most alcohols, tobaccos, and certain herbals through licensed ayurvedic shops, who are provided the raw materials by the Ministry of Health and then compelled to produce solutions/products that are then sold to the public. It is also possible to purchase tobacco from convenience stores and alcohol from several licensed stores.