Competition bubbles for breweries

Photo by: Pha Lina

Deputy general director of Khmer Brewery Co Ltd, Peter Leang, walks with the chief executive officer of ANZ Banking Group, Mike Smith, at the site of the soon-to-be-completed Khmer Brewery in Phnom Penh yesterday.

via CAAI

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 15:01 Chun Sophal and Jeremy Mullins

Chip Mong Group’s US$60 million brewery is set to begin producing its brand of “Cambodia Beer” in July, according to chief executive officer Leang Meng.

“We hope that the new beer will gain a large market share in the country within a short period due to its international quality standard,” he said yesterday, while an ANZ Bank delegation lead by its Australia-based chief executive officer Mike Smith toured the construction site in Dangkor district, Phnom Penh.

The company has now completed 70 percent of its Khmer Brewery complex, aiming to have construction on the facility wrapped up in May, according a statement from the firm. The brewery is receiving technical assistance from Germany’s Ziemann Group.

In a previous release from the group, it said annual production at Khmer Brewery will begin at 500,000 hectolitres per year and could eventually expand to one or two million hectolitres as the Cambodian beer market grows.

Cambrew Ltd – the brewer of Angkor and Black Panther Stout – has an annual production capacity of 850,000 hectolitres, according to its part owner Carlsberg Group.

Leang Meng declined to reveal the eventual unit cost for “Cambodia Beer”, claiming that “we can’t reveal our product price now because we don’t want our competitors to know”.

The firm aims to have 70 percent of its products consumed domestically, and the rest exported, he said.

Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy department of industry director general Meng Saktheara said he welcomed the brewery, as it would assist Cambodia by producing competitive products for potential export.

Cambodia produces fewer products than many nations, he said.

“I think it is better if local companies can produce high-quality products for export,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kingdom Breweries, the latest beer-maker to set up shop in Cambodia, is claiming that sales are exceeding expectations.

When asked about its new competition, Peter Brongers, chief executive officer of Kingdom Breweries, said late last week that his firm targeted a different market than most Cambodian makers. “We are making a [type of] beer that until now has not been made in this country,” he said.

But Kingdom is looking to increasingly target Cambodian consumers, he said, and is set to launch television advertisements later this month.