Brewdog: The British craft beer giant is expanding into China

Brewdog is one of the UK’s largest craft beer brands

UK-based craft beer maker Brewdog is expanding in China following a partnership with brewing giant Budweiser.

The joint venture with Budweiser China sees the Scottish company’s Punk IPA and other beers brewed in China.

Brewdog also plans to open more bars in the world’s second largest economy.

It comes after the company faced controversy in recent years and announced it could seek an IPO.

In a statement, Brewdog founder James Watt described the Budweiser partnership as “transformational” and said it would bring craft brewing to “every corner of the world’s largest beer market.”

As part of the agreement, Brewdog said it expects its beers to be produced at Budweiser China’s Putian Craft Brewery in southeastern Fujian province by the end of next month.

The company said it also plans to open several bars in the country over the next three years.

China, the world’s largest market for beer, currently accounts for less than 1% of Brewdog’s total sales.

It’s the company’s second connection in Asia following a deal with Asahi in Japan in 2021, which Brewdog says has helped double its sales in the country.

The company says it currently has an international network of more than 110 bars, but only one in China. Brewdog Shanghai, which opened in 2020, is located in the Jing’An district of the city.

Headquartered in Scotland, the company employs more than 2,300 people and also has breweries in the US state of Ohio, Berlin in Germany and Brisbane in Australia.

The company was reportedly planning to start selling shares on the London Stock Exchange in 2020 but postponed the move as pubs and bars were closed during the pandemic lockdown.

Mr Watt said Brewdog has no plans to revive a share sale immediately but has indicated one could happen by the end of this year.

According to Brewdog’s 2021 financial results, the company posted an annual operating loss of £5.5m ($6.6m).

The company has been criticized for both its marketing campaigns and workplace culture.

In January this year, Mr Watt said he had paid out nearly £500,000 to winners of the company’s misleading ‘solid gold’ beer can promotion.

Some winners questioned the value of the cans and complained after discovering they were gold plated.

Separately, a June 2021 letter from former employees said that former employees “suffered from a mental illness” as a result of their work for the brewery.

A number of allegations have been leveled, including that Brewdog encouraged a culture in which employees were afraid to voice concerns.

Mr Watt apologized to former employees and said their grievances would help make him a better chief executive.

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