(commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes

Japanese whisky Japanese whisky is a style of whisky developed and produced in Japan. Whisky production in Japan began around 1870, but the first commercial production was in 1923 upon the opening of the country's first distillery, Yamazaki. Broadly speaking, t ...

. Its business has expanded to other fields, and the company now also makes soft drinks and operates sandwich chains. With its 2014 acquisition of

Beam, Inc. Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational company that produces Alcoholic drink, alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan. It is the third largest producer of d ...

, it has diversified internationally and become the third largest maker of distilled beverages in the world. Suntory is headquartered in Dojimahama 2- chome, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. , a subsidiary of Suntory, is responsible for development outside Japan.

History

Suntory was started by , who first opened his store in Osaka on February 1, 1899, to sell imported wines. In 1907, the store began selling a fortified wine called Akadama Port Wine (Akadama literally meaning "red ball," a euphemism for the sun). The store became the Kotobukiya company in 1921 to further expand its business and in 1923, Torii built Japan's first malt whisky distillery Yamazaki Distillery. Production began in December 1924 and five years later Suntory Whisky Shirofuda (White Label), the first single malt whisky made in Japan, was sold. Due to shortages during World War II, Kotobukiya was forced to halt its development of new products, but in 1946 it re-released Torys Whisky, which sold well in post-war Japan. In 1961, Kotobukiya launched the "Drink Torys and Go to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

" campaign. At the time, a trip abroad was considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In 1963, Kotobukiya changed its name to "Suntory", taken from the name of the whisky it produces, which itself was derived from the English "Sun" (referencing "akadama") + Tory, the anglicized version of Torii's name. In the same year, Musashino Beer Factory began its production of the Suntory Beer. In 1997, the company became Japan's sole bottler, distributor, and licensee of

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

products. On April 1, 2009, Suntory became a stockholding company named and established , , , , , , and . On July 14, 2009, Kirin announced that it was negotiating with Suntory on a merger. On February 8, 2010, it was announced that negotiations between the two were terminated. In 2009, Suntory acquired

Orangina Orangina () is a lightly carbonated beverage made from carbonated water, 12% citrus juice (10% from concentrated orange, 2% from a combination of concentrated lemon, concentrated mandarin, and concentrated grapefruit juices), as well as 2% ora ...

, the orange soft drink for 300 billion yen, and Frucor energy drinks for 600 million euros. On July 2, 2013 the company debuted on the

Tokyo stock exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed ...

and raised almost US$4

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...

in the process. In September 2013, Suntory purchased the drinks division of GlaxoSmithKline. This included the brands Lucozade and Ribena, however, the deal did not include

Horlicks Horlicks is a sweet malted milk hot drink powder developed by founders James and William Horlick. It was first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food", soon adding "aged and travellers" to their label. In the early 20th century, it was s ...

.Angela Monagha
"Ribena and Lucozade sold to Japanese drinks giant"
''The Guardian'', September 9, 2013 In January 2014, Suntory announced an agreement to buy the largest U.S. bourbon producer, Beam Inc. (producers of

Jim Beam Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition), seven gene ...

) for US$16 billion. This deal would make Suntory the world's third largest spirits maker. The acquisition was completed in April 2014, when it was announced that Beam would be renamed Beam Suntory. In 2018, Suntory sold most of Cerebos Pacific assets, including Australian and New Zealand food business to Kraft Heinz for A$290 million. This transaction excludes Cerebos Pacific's health supplements and fresh coffee business which later integrated into Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. and Suntory Coffee Australia respectively.

Holdings

Beam Suntory Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan. It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...

* Florigene Pty Ltd * Frucor Beverages Limited *Gold Knoll Ltd *Grupo Restaurante Suntory Mexico * Morrison Bowmore Distillers, Limited *

*Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC *Subway Japan *Tipco F&B Co., Ltd *Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. *Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd (joint venture with PepsiCo) * Château Lagrange S.A.S *Louis Royer S.A.S, sold in 2015

Joint ventures

From the early 1990s, Suntory has collaborated extensively with Melbourne biotechnology firm

Florigene Florigene is a biotechnology company based in Melbourne, Australia, which is principally involved in the application of in-house genetic modification techniques to develop novel colour expressions in a range of commercial plants. Florigene has a s ...

to genetically engineer the world's first true

blue rose A blue rose is a flower of the genus ''Rosa'' (family Rosaceae) that presents blue-to-violet pigmentation instead of the more common red, white, or yellow. Blue roses are often used to symbolize mystery or attaining the impossible. However, beca ...

, a symbol often associated with the impossible or unattainable. In 1991, the team won the intense global race to isolate the gene responsible for blue flowers, and has since developed a range of genetically modified flowers expressing colors in the blue spectrum, as well as a number of other breakthroughs extending the vase life of cut flowers. In 2003, Suntory acquired a 98.5% equity holding in Florigene. Prior to this, Florigene had been a subsidiary of global agrochemicals giant Nufarm since 1999. In July 2004, Suntory and Florigene scientists announced to the world the development of the first roses containing blue pigment, an important step toward the creation of a truly blue colored rose. In July 2011, Suntory Beverage and Food Limited together with PT GarudaFood from Tudung Group in Indonesia have agreed to make a new firm to produce non-alcoholic drink with 51 percent and 49 percent shares respectively. It will produce Suntory Oolong Tea, Boss and

. In April 2019 Suntory partnered with Drinkripples, an Israeli-based company. As part of the collaboration Suntory will use Drinkripples' Ripple Maker machines to print branded and viral content on top of Suntory beer in Suntory certified locations and factories throughout Japan.

Media and advertising

* Suntory and its various products are featured in the ''

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

'' series of games. * Suntory was one of the first East Asian companies to specifically employ American celebrities to market their product. One of the most notable is Sammy Davis, Jr., who appeared in a series of Suntory commercials in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s,

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

directed a series of commercials featuring American celebrities on the set of his film ''

Kagemusha is a 1980 jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate the dying ''daimyō'' Takeda Shingen to dissuade opposing lords fr ...

''. One of these featured Francis Ford Coppola (an executive producer of the film), which later inspired his daughter

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

in her writing of '' Lost in Translation'', a film which focuses on an American actor (played by

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

) filming a Suntory commercial in Tokyo. * A

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

photo by Toshiyuki Aizawa from July 2003 showed Suntory's marketing strategy of TV helmets. In this scheme, advertising company employees clad in orange jumpsuits wear

television camera A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on film). ...

s that broadcast wide-screen digital feeds of the brewing company's commercial on top of their helmets. *In the 1980s, Suntory released a new type of product called "Suntory CAN Beer". To promote the product, Suntory created penguin characters that would be singing, provided by

Seiko Matsuda , known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, win ...

. The ads were popular, and as a result, Suntory created a film about the penguins called "Penguin's Memory: A Tale of Happiness". * Suntory operates two museums, the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo and the Suntory Museum Tempozan in Osaka, in addition to a number of cultural and social programs across Japan. * In the 1970s, Suntory engaged the US pop group

the Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen's contr ...

to advertise its new line of soft drinks. * Suntory is a former sponsor of the professional match play golf tournament, played annually at Wentworth Club, near London.

Products

Alcoholic drinks

Soft drinks

Food for specified health uses

The following drinks were approved as Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU)."Soft drink product information"
, Suntory (Retrieved on May 1, 2010) *Black Oolong Tea *Sesame Barley Tea

References

External links

*
Florigene corporate site
{{Authority control Beer in Japan Holding companies established in 1899 Japanese brands Holding companies of Japan Midori-kai Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange PepsiCo bottlers Drink companies of Japan Wineries of Japan Japanese companies established in 1899 Food and drink companies established in 1899