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Asahi USA has quietly made headway over the last 2 yrs since the global beer giant moved to acquire Octopi Brewing, building out its leadership team, brewing capabilities and portfolio in the process. Last yr, Asahi passed Kirin to become the #2 Japanese lager by $$ in US scans, posting the fastest growth rate of the bunch and 2d-fastest growth among all top 50 import fams, prexy Paul Verdu told INSIGHTS. It's frequently among top 5 beer growth cos in NIQ data since late last yr. Asahi 0.0 is "the fastest growing Asian 0.0 brand" and "fastest growing in that space as well" (off a small base). Octopi facility passed Asahi's "extraordinarily high" quality standards to officially become one of just "a few" Asahi Super Dry breweries in the world outside of Japan as of May 2025, planning to bring a bottling line in for this summer. Twisted Shotz is getting a refresh and new 15pks heading into 2026, and co's introducing Zeitaku Shibori spirits RTDs to Asian-centric stores in the US. Plus, Octopi Brewing has ample capacity and is actively seeking more partners ready to scale for its contract biz with capabilities across all kinds of bevs and pack types, Paul assured. Produced 109K Bbls of Beer Jul-Dec 2025; Lots More Including NA Beer/Bevs and Other Alc Bevs; Copacking Remains a "Big Area of Focus" Asahi/Octopi production saw a notable uptick in the 2d half as Asahi produced 27K bbls of beer and Octopi produced 82K bbls of beer from Jul-Dec 2025, according to WI dept of revenue stats. That doesn't include Asahi bottles yet, which are still imported into the US 'til this summer. Recall, Octopi has up to 1 mil bbls/yr capacity. And keep in mind, state data reports don't capture everything the contract producer's putting out across bevs: Octopi's current contract brewing mix consists of around half beer/non-alc beer/RTDs and half other non-alc bevs, Paul shared. Co's "very proud" of its non-alc beer capabilities, which remains "a growing part of our business," he added. But Paul stressed co's "ability to make amazing beer," looking around at emerging lagers in the US with appetite to "bring it on."Being a copacker allows Asahi USA to be a little more "agnostic" to where the volume's comin' from and "immune to the ebbs and flows of various segments," he noted. Brands that are "ready for that next step" to "scale up faster," expand distribution and add a new copacker are right in its wheelhouse, having invested $35 mil in the facility since Asahi took it on. Copacking is "a large part of our revenue" and a "big area of focus," Paul reminded. Co employs a little over 300 people in US with majority on the production side. Asahi USA's sales and marketing team remains a "smaller' but "meaningful" part of the biz, recently adding industry vet Dave Duffy to keep them "well connected" to its "couple hundred" distribs, and retailers as co begins to bolster natl accounts capabilities and coverage.Asahi Can Grow "For Many, Many Years to Come" in US; "All About Driving What We Have" Asahi USA's "small right now" so "we have to be very convincing" to gain "at least our fair share of time and attention," said Paul, aiming for "a little more" than that "given our growth trajectory." Yet co has sizable aspirations to grow Asahi "for many, many years to come" into the leading Japanese lager brand in the US, leaning into the "cultural" tailwinds in the US to help it get there. Current leader Sapporo is much larger at ~380K bbls in the US, and accelerating in early 2026. It's got a long way to go to reach its goals, Paul acknowledged. But co feels it's "sitting on a golden egg" in Asahi Super Dry and "freeing up as much resources as we can" to "pour into" current portfolio across Asahi beers, Twisted Shotz spirits-based shooters, Zeitaku Shibori spirits RTDs and copacking. While there's "no doubt" that Asahi Group has "much higher aspirations" in North America (and LatAm) "than where we are&hellip;at the moment, it's all about driving what we have" in the US, Paul stated. He's "1000% focused on the brands we have," building the team and capabilities overall, and becoming more efficient.

Asahi USA's "Focused" Plans to Grow for "Many Years to Come"; #2 Japanese Lager in Scans; Seeking Contract Partners Ready to Scale

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