Suntory

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Suntory Holdings Limited
Native name
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Santorī Hōrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha
Company type
Private
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HeadquartersOsaka, Japan
Key people
Nobuhiro Torii (President)
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OwnerTorii and Saji families (founding family)[1][2][3]
Number of employees
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ParentKotobuki Realty Co., Ltd. (89.5%)[1]
SubsidiariesSuntory Beverage & Food Ltd.
Suntory Global Spirits
Websitesuntory.com
Footnotes / references
Kotobuki Realty is an asset management company owned by key members of the Torii and Saji families and by three nonprofit organizations (public interest incorporated foundations) that are practically governed by the families.[2][3]

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Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of Western-style alcoholic beverages in Japan and one of the largest drinks companies in the world following its acquisition of Beam, Inc. in 2014.[5][6]

Suntory produces a number of well-known alcohol and soft drink brands, including Jim Beam, Lucozade, Orangina, Maker's Mark, Ribena, and a range of Japanese whiskies.[6] The company is headquartered in Osaka and employs 40,000 people globally.[6]

History

File:Yamazaki,Hakushu,Hibiki.JPG
From left to right: Hakushu, Hibiki, Yamazaki; Japanese whiskies from Suntory
File:Natchan.jpg
Orange juice soft drink from Suntory

Suntory was founded by Script error: No such module "Nihongo". who first opened his store, Script error: No such module "Nihongo". (Template:Lit "Torii store"), in Osaka on February 1, 1899, to sell imported wines. In 1907, the shop began selling a fortified wine called Akadama port wine (Akadama literally meaning "red ball", a byname 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.

Although shortages during World War II forced Kotobukiya to halt new product development, the company successfully re-released Torys Whisky in 1946, which sold well in post-war Japan. In 1961, Kotobukiya launched the "Drink Torys and Go to Hawaii" 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 late 2000s, Suntory was widely reported to have revived domestic demand for blended whisky by promoting the whisky highball as an everyday, meal-compatible drink, supported by standardized "highball" dispensing practices and dedicated on-premise promotion.[7][8]

On April 1, 2009, Suntory transitioned into a stockholding company named Script error: No such module "Nihongo". establishing several new entities: Script error: No such module "Nihongo". Script error: No such module "Nihongo". Script error: No such module "Nihongo". Script error: No such module "Nihongo". Script error: No such module "Nihongo". Script error: No such module "Nihongo". and Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[9]

On July 14, 2009, Kirin announced merger negotiations with Suntory;[10] however, the two companies terminated these discussions on February 8, 2010.[11] That same year, Suntory acquired Orangina-Schweppes, owner of the Orangina soft drink, for 300 billion yen, and Frucor energy drinks for 600 million euros.[12]

On July 2, 2013, the company's beverage and food division debuted on the Tokyo stock exchange raising almost US$4 billion in the process.[13] In September 2013, Suntory purchased the drinks division of GlaxoSmithKline, a deal that included the brands Lucozade and Ribena, though not Horlicks.[14]

In January 2014, Suntory announced an agreement to buy the largest U.S. bourbon producer, Beam Inc. (producers of Jim Beam) for US$16 billion.[15] This deal would make Suntory the world's third largest spirits maker.[16] The acquisition was completed in April 2014, and the new subsidiary was renamed Beam Suntory.[17][18]

In December 2016, Beam Suntory acquired the gin maker Sipsmith.[19] A year later, Suntory and PepsiCo formed a joint venture in Thailand.[20]

In 2018, Suntory sold most of Cerebos Pacific's assets, including Australian and New Zealand food business, to Kraft Heinz for A$290 million.[21][22] This transaction excluded Cerebos Pacific's health supplements and fresh coffee business, which were later integrated into Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. and Suntory Coffee Australia, respectively.[21]

In recent leadership changes, in March 2023, Makiko Ono became the first woman to be appointed CEO of Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.[23] In May 2024, Beam Suntory was rebranded as Suntory Global Spirits including the launch of a new website and visual identity.[24]

Nobuhiro Torii, great-grandson of founder Shinjirō Torii, was appointed as president of Suntory Holdings beginning March 2025, with incumbent president Takeshi Niinami appointed as its chairman.[25] However, in September 2025, Takeshi Niinami resigned as the company's chairman following an investigation into the purchase of possibly illegal supplements.[26][27]

Subsidiaries

File:Suntory Malts beer.jpg
Suntory Malt's beer

Joint ventures

File:Suntory Whisky Display.PNG
A Suntory Kakubin ('angled bottle') whisky bottle and glass on display at a liquor store in Iizaka, Japan

Beginning in the early 1990s, Suntory collaborated with Melbourne biotechnology firm Florigene to genetically engineer a true blue rose, a symbol often associated with the impossible or unattainable.[29] While Florigene had been a subsidiary of the agrochemicals company Nufarm since 1999, Suntory acquired a 98.5% equity stake in the firm in 2003.[citation needed] By 2004, Suntory and Florigene scientists announced the development of the first roses containing blue pigment.[30] Since then, they have produced a range of genetically modified flowers expressing colors in the blue spectrum, as well as other desirable traits such as an extended vase life for cut flowers.[31]

In July 2011, Suntory Beverage and Food Limited formed a joint venture with PT GarudaFood in Indonesia to produce non-alcoholic beverages such as Suntory Oolong Tea, Boss, and Orangina. Suntory maintains a majority 51% stake in the venture.[32]

In April 2019, Suntory partnered with Drinkripples, an Israeli-based company. As part of the collaboration, Suntory utilizes "Ripple Maker" machines to print branded content onto beer foam at select venues throughout Japan.[33]

Brands

Soft drinks

Suntory manufactures and sells soft drinks such as Suntory Ade, Suntory Oolong Tea, NCAA, Iyemon and the Natchan series becoming one of Japan's leading beverage companies. In October 1997, they colloarborated with American beverage comoany PepsiCo to handle PepsiCo's soft drinks products such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew for the Japanese market.[34] Following the transition to a holding company structure, " Suntory Foods International Limited " (originally "Suntory Foods Limited") was established as the managing company for the manufacturing and sales of the soft drink business. Furthermore, the majority of the sales division of this business was transferred to its subsidiary, Suntory Foods Limited (Tokyo).

File:01 Suntory beer.jpg
Malt's beer served at Suntory's Kyoto brewery
File:Australian Boss Coffee Double Expresso.jpg
Boss Coffee, Suntory's brand of canned coffee

Suntory beverage brands include:[35]

Suntory Wellness

Suntory also handle & manufactures its health food & skincare business in Japan. While they have expanded this wellness presence into a few Asian markets (like Taiwan, China, and Thailand), it is not widely available in regions like the US or Europe.[36]

  • Sesamin E Plus
  • DHA & EPA + Sesamin E
  • Royal Jelly + Sesamin E
  • Propolis + Sesamin E
  • Arabita
  • Glucosamine & Chondroitin
  • CoQ10 + Sesamin E
  • Contains maca and cordyceps.
  • Green juice
  • Deer antler reishi mushroom
  • collagen
  • chlorella
  • blueberry
  • Ginkgo leaves
  • Saw palmetto + Sesamin E
  • Fermented sesame kelp granules
  • diet's
  • diet's BB
  • fire thorn
  • Soy isoflavones + flax lignans
  • Multivitamins & Minerals
  • Calcium & Magnesium
  • Black vinegar garlic
  • Green juice bitter melon
  • Bifidobacteria + Xylooligosaccharides
  • Sweet tea 400
  • Sesame Pepper Tea
  • Locomore - Food with functional claims

Since 2010, they have also been selling the Suntory FAGE series of anti-aging skincare products by mail order, which was developed based on yeast research accumulated through alcohol production.

Media and advertising

File:AKADAMA sweet wine poster.jpg
Akadama advertising poster from 1922

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  • Suntory was one of the first East Asian companies to specifically employ American celebrities to market their product.[citation needed] One of the most notable[<span title="Script error: No such module "decodeEncode".">according to whom?] is Sammy Davis Jr., who appeared in a series of Suntory commercials in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s, Akira Kurosawa directed a series of commercials featuring American celebrities on the set of his film Kagemusha. One of these featured Francis Ford Coppola (an executive producer of the film), which later inspired his daughter Sofia Coppola in her writing of Lost in Translation, a film which focuses on an American actor (played by Bill Murray) filming a Suntory commercial in Tokyo for the Hibiki whisky.[37]
  • 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 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.
  • In 2023 for Suntory's 100th year anniversary, and 20 years after the appearance of Lost in Translation, director Sofia Coppola was asked to direct the company's anniversary tribute video starring Keanu Reeves, with a mix that included scenes from her film along with footage of her father and Akira Kurosawa's Suntory Whiskey advertisement from the 1970s.[38][39]

See also

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Summary of Consolidated Financial Results for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2025" (PDF). Suntory Holdings Limited. 2025-08-08. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-11-02. Retrieved 2025-11-02.
  2. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Simms, James (2023-07-04). "Whisky Giant Suntory Holdings, Owner Of Jim Beam, Outlines Plans To Expand More Outside As Japan's Population And Domestic Imbibing Decline". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2025-11-02.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."寿不動産 親会社等状況報告書(内国会社)-第69期(2024/01/01-2024/12/31)" (PDF). EDINET (in Japanese). 2025-03-27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-11-02. Retrieved 2025-11-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Financial Statement" (PDF). Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Suntory. "About us | History". Suntory. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Howard, Tom (2025-09-02). "Suntory CEO quits over police 'supplements' investigation". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Broom, Dave (29 April 2011). "Mr Hi Ball". Whisky Magazine. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Highball Fever". Metropolis Japan. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  9. ^ Suntory News Release on January 19, 2009 (Global website), (Japan website) Script error: No such module "webarchive". - Suntory Limited
  10. ^ キリン: サントリーと経営統合へ交渉 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞) Script error: No such module "webarchive". Mainichi Shimbun (Retrieved on July 13, 2009)
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Termination of Merger Negotiation with Kirin". Suntory Holdings Limited. 8 February 2010. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory buys Frucor from Groupe Danone October 2008". Danone. October 23, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory IPO". Bloomberg News.
  14. ^ Angela Monaghan "Ribena and Lucozade sold to Japanese drinks giant", The Guardian, September 9, 2013
  15. ^ Suntory News Release on January 13, 2014 (Global website)
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.MARTINNE GELLER AND OLIVIA ORAN (January 14, 2014). "Japan's Suntory to buy U.S. spirits maker Beam for $13.6 billion cash". Reuters.
  17. ^ Beam Suntory, Suntory press release, April 30, 2014.
  18. ^ Suntory Still has M&A Thirst, The Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2014.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Daneshkhu, Scheherazade (December 16, 2016). "Beam Suntory swallows London gin maker Sipsmith". Financial Times. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.beveragedaily.com (November 2, 2017). "Suntory and PepsiCo form soft drink joint venture in Thailand". beveragedaily.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kraft Heinz to acquire food and instant coffee business in Australia". www.foodbusinessnews.net. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hartley, Simon (March 10, 2018). "Kraft Heinz to buy Cerebos, Asian". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ward, Ben (March 29, 2023). "Suntory's New CEO Wants to Spend Over $5 Billion in M&A". Nasdaq. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hurt, Jeanette. "Beam Suntory Rebrands As Suntory Global Spirits". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory Holdings names executive vice president as next boss". The Japan Times. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory chairman to step down amid illegal drug allegations". Nikkei Asia. 2025-09-02.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory CEO Niinami submits resignation after cannabis-related police probe, Tokyo newspaper says". Reuters. 2025-09-02.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Japan's Suntory snaps up Orangina". BBC News. BBC. November 13, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perrone, Jane (2009-10-21). "Why all the excitement about a 'blue' rose?". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory to sell 'blue' roses in North America". Japan Today. Archived from the original on 2026-01-22. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Australia Welcomes BluOcean®". Thursd. 2025-06-25. Archived from the original on 2025-09-05. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GarudaFood, Suntory form joint venture". The Jakarta Post. July 16, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  33. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ripples Suntory Partnership". April 12, 2019.
  34. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Pepsico and Suntory in Alliance in Japan". The New York Times. October 4, 1997.
  35. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suntory | Brands". Suntory. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  36. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Our Portfolio". Suntory.
  37. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Lost in Translation Filming Locations: A.P.C. Underground in Harajuku". October 7, 2021.
  38. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The True Story Behind Bill Murray's Whiskey Ad in 'Lost in Translation'". Collider. August 10, 2023.
  39. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sofia Coppola on Tokyo, Suntory Whisky, and 20 Years of "Lost in Translation"". May 24, 2023.

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