Beer gets second tasting
Beer World (HK), a new subsidiary of San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong, has re-launched Samuel Adams Boston Lager in the territory.
Beer World general manager William Ottiger said the company would target expatriates aged 25 to 35 through campaigns in bars, clubs and restaurants.
Promotions would include taste tests and two-for-one offers. The company hoped word-of-mouth publicity would prove more beneficial than print advertisements.
Mr Ottiger said the brewers, the Boston Beer Company, viewed Hong Kong as a test market to see if Asia was ready for craft beer. The craft beer industry is made up of small regional brewers in the United States.
'We don't have huge volume expectations but there is a niche for this type of product,' Mr Ottiger said.
The brew is an American lager described as the the 'best beer of the decade' by Time magazine in 1990.
Mr Ottiger said San Miguel invested between $2 million and $3 million in the fully owned subsidiary with the mandate to market and distribute imported beer.
The company intended to introduce more brews in a year's time, but Mr Ottiger said Beer World would first focus its marketing efforts on Samuel Adams.
The Boston Beer Company accounted for more than 50 per cent of America's craft beer industry, Mr Ottiger said.
The craft beer sector accounted for 2 per cent of the US beer market, worth US$50 billion a year.
The brew was previously available in the territory through the now defunct USA and Co grocery chain, but flopped due to lack of promotion.
