A snapshot of our History

The Schweppes brand dates back to 1783 when Jacob Schweppe, a Swiss silversmith, first brought his carbonated beverages to the world.  Schweppe’s mineral waters were endorsed by doctors and were known for having health benefits. 

The Schweppes company came to Australia in 1850, opening its first factories in Sydney in 1877 and Melbourne in 1885. From the early 1900s Schweppes waters and fruit juice cordials were found in leading hotels throughout Australia.

The Osaka Beer Brewing Company was established in 1889, by Komakichi Torii who had a grand dream of introducing beer to Japan.  The company launched Asahi Draft Beer, Japan’s first bottled draft beer in 1900. From the moment of its creation the Asahi brand was loved by the people of Japan because it embodied a dream and hope for the future.

Asahi Breweries was established in 1949 as a spin off from Dai Nippon Breweries, a company jointly established by Osaka Breweries Ltd, Japan Beer Brewery Ltd and Sapporo Beer Co in 1906.  In 2011, Asahi Breweries became a pure holding company, changing its name to Asahi Group Holdings.

From humble beginnings as Cottee’s Passiona Pty Ltd in 1927, Cottee’s became one of Australia’s most trusted and iconic brands.  Generations of Australians grew up with Cottee’s cordials, jams, toppings and jellies.  In 1984, Cottee’s Foods became part of Cadbury Schweppes (formed by merging Schweppes Australia and Cadbury Fry Pascall in 1970). Today, Cottee’s cordials remain part of the product offer of the Asahi Beverages group.  Cottee’s jams, toppings and jellies are no longer made by the group and are now manufactured by other companies.

In 1987, New Zealand entrepreneur and innovator, Michael Erceg founded the Calypso Beverage Company Limited, the forerunner to Independent Liquor.  Seizing opportunities in a deregulated market, he took on the big brewers with a range of beers, along with spirit-based products that were to set the scene for the company’s core business - RTDs (ready to drink beverages).   Unfortunately Michael was killed in a helicopter accident in 2005 and most of the company was later sold to private equity partners.

Faced with tough times, in 1985 Asahi Breweries set about finding out why their market share was declining.  To understand what consumers wanted they conducted a survey of more than 5000 consumers to assess their preferences and tastes.  Drawing on their customer-oriented spirit, the company changed the flavour of its beers, culminating in the launch of Asahi Super Dry in 1987.  Within 10 years, Asahi Super Dry overtook Japan’s top ranked beers to become the number one beer in that country.  Today, Asahi Super Dry is the leading beer in our portfolio in Australia and New Zealand.

On 3 April 2009, the 40 year association between Cadbury and Schweppes ended with the sale of Schweppes Australia to Asahi Breweries Ltd of Japan. Today this part of our business is known as Asahi Lifestyle Beverages, and refers to all brands in our non-alcohol portfolio.

This year was a significant one for acquisitions.  In Australia, Asahi Holdings acquired the juice and water business of P&N Beverages, as well as a spring water bottling company, Mountain H2o (completed in January 2012).  In New Zealand, a premium juice and organic soft drinks business called Charlie’s was acquired.  Charlie’s was later rebranded The Better Drinks Co.

Independent Liquor joined the fold in 2011, when Asahi acquired the group from private equity owners.  Independent Liquor is based in New Zealand, with a sister company in Australia called Independent Distillers.   Independent Distillers was renamed Asahi Premium Beverages in 2013 and Independent Liquor became Asahi Beverages New Zealand in 2019.

We commenced the integration of the alcohol business, Asahi Premium Beverages and non-alcohol business, now known as Asahi Lifestyle Beverages (formerly Schweppes Australia) into to a single operating structure, known as Asahi Beverages. 

Later in 2014, we announced that the New Zealand alcohol business, Independent Liquor NZ would be integrated with Asahi Premium Beverages in Australia, creating a single alcohol business unit.

In September 2015, the company acquired craft brewer, Mountain Goat.

In 2017, the company added spirit brands, Vodka O, VDKA6100, Tequila Blu and Spicebox Whisky to its portfolio though acquisition, and a new ‘home grown’ brand, Untold Rum. 

We welcomed the addition of international beer brands, Peroni, Groslch and Pilsener Urquell, following our parent company’s acquisition of these European brands.

In New Zealand, Asahi Beverages commenced an agreement to distribute Treasury Wine Estates wine brands in NZ. In October 2018, we announced that our commercial non-alcohol business, formerly known as Schweppes Australia, is now called Asahi Lifestyle Beverages - a name which better describes the breadth of our portfolio and our future aspirations.

Asahi Beverages acquired a Brisbane based craft brewer Green Beacon Brewing Co in August 2019.

In October 2019, Asahi Beverages acquired the bottling and distribution rights of the Lipton Iced Tea portfolio across Australia and New Zealand.

Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) became a part of the Asahi Beverages family in June 2020. CUB has a long and proud history as Australia’s leading brewer that stretches back over 150 years. The acquisition of CUB means that Asahi Beverages offers customers and consumers one of the largest portfolios of great tasting beverages in Australia; now with the addition of some of Australia’s most popular and well-loved beer brands.