Beer battles: Lion Brewery highlights Singapore as key craft beer market despite local ‘anti-competitive’ challenges
Lion Brewery is one of Singapore’s first and largest craft breweries, with five core range beers available in both supermarket retail and on-trade settings as well as 20 to 25 other beers on tap at its own local brewery location.
Its beers have also successfully expanded presence to five other international markets including the UAE, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Macau and Indonesia, producing and exporting from both Singapore and the UK.
“The craft brewery scene in Singapore is definitely very vibrant and continuing to expand, which I believe is driven by both a more educated bar owner/management scene [as well as] consumer demand and appreciation for quality and diversity in beer,” Lion Brewery Managing Director and Co-Founder Will Julius told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“This means that the value of having premium, better-tasting alternatives to commercial lagers is being more well-recognised [and we are also benefitting from] general international beer trends and shifts towards premiumisation of products.
“That said, in general it’s unfortunately anti-competitive behaviour that is the largest roadblock to the growth of craft beer – this refers to the anti-competitive nature of many of the large commercial beer companies, through the contracts imposed by them on bars, restaurants, and hotels across Singapore.
“This means that is can be hard to break into these venues and sell products here [which can be vital to bring up consumer awareness of craft products], as they will disincentivise bar owners from taking other beer products, particularly on tap, effectively blocking competition on the beer lines.”
Julius also highlighted that in Singapore craft breweries tend to have less of an advantage compared to their peers in other markets due to existing local regulatory and trade frameworks.
“The question of regulatory challenges facing craft beer is is interesting as it’s not often addressed here,” he said.
“In other markets, smaller ‘craft’ breweries such as ourselves would get a subsidised duty rate compared to commercial beers in order to enable us to be more competitive in market [but] this isn’t the case in Singapore.
“But despite these challenges, we will keep fighting the good beer fight, and as it stands things continue to trend our way, which is most promising [for] us and the craft beer scene.”
Meeting local tastes
Based on the firm’s experience both in Asian and western markets, Julius highlighted that palates here are far lighter than the west when it comes to beers.
“In our experience, the Singaporean and broader Asian palate generally favours lighter, fruiter beers with balanced, less bitter profiles - Pale ales and lagers are particularly popular due to their refreshing qualities,” he said.
“Additionally, there is a strong preference for beers with subtle fruity notes or a slightly sweeter finish, as opposed to intensely bitter or heavily roasted profiles.
“The one exception to this preference for lighter beers seems to be stouts, in particular nitro stouts like our own Nitro Stout launched earlier this year, which are creamier and less carbonated versions compared to other stout or porter alternatives.”
