TOKYO — Japan’s antitrust regulator has raided the country’s four biggest brewers over suspicions they colluded to raise the price of beer and other drinks, BBC News and The Guardian reported.
Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory confirmed that the Japan Fair Trade Commission searched their premises and said they would cooperate fully. The four together control more than 90 percent of Japan’s domestic beer market, The Guardian said. Kirin Holdings said its brewing subsidiary was searched “on suspicion of a violation of the Antimonopoly Act” and that it takes the matter “very seriously.” Shares in Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo fell after news of the raids broke on Wednesday; Suntory’s beer business is not publicly listed.
“I do not deny that an investigation is being conducted today, but I’d like to refrain from commenting on the details as a preliminary review is underway,” JFTC Secretary General Hiroo Iwanari said, according to local media cited by the BBC. Japanese media quoted sources as saying sales executives were suspected of meeting secretly over a long period to coordinate the timing and size of price increases, and that the probe could lead to a criminal complaint.
The brewers all raised prices at the same time, most recently in April last year and also in October 2022 and October 2023, citing higher costs for raw materials and logistics. Japan’s alcohol sales reached ¥3.8 trillion ($24.3 billion) in 2024, with beer accounting for 30 percent, The Guardian reported. The raids follow a June investigation into alleged cartel activity among some of Japan’s biggest ice cream makers.
Sources: BBC News, The Guardian
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