Kirin Brewery Co Ltd

Kirin is a malty Japanese beer that loyalists find as fitting with sushi as with a cut of Kobe beef. But take a close look at that label. Kirin is brewed and bottled at the Anheuser-Busch plant in Van Nuys, in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. The alternative--shipping Kirin across the Pacific--would reduce freshness while raising the cost substantially, company officials say.

With the ceremonial tossing of rice by a Shinto priest, the first Japanese beer ever manufactured in the United States for large-scale sale in Japan rolled off the assembly lines at the Van Nuys Anheuser-Busch plant, opening the door to expanding trade. The new product, Kirin Ice Beer, came off the line at a rate of 2,000 cans per minute after being blessed by the Rev. Alfred Y. Tsuyuki, Shinto priest of the Konko Church of Los Angeles.

Pity the "transgenic" tomato. It has become a marketing disaster on both sides of the Pacific, and a cautionary tale for Japanese biotechnology. It began life in a California laboratory as a miracle product, a tomato bioengineered to be tasty but slow to spoil. It was the first gene-spliced food to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And in 1994, when Kirin Brewery Co., Japan's top beer maker, acquired the Japanese rights to the Flavr-Savr tomato from Calgene Inc.

Kirin, Anheuser Form Agreement: Japan's biggest brewer, seeking to expand its U.S. beer sales, said it reached an agreement with Anheuser-Busch Cos. that will allow the American brewer to produce more types of Kirin-brand beer in the United States. Starting in March, Anheuser-Busch will make Kirin beers at its Los Angeles plant for sale mainly in the United States. Anheuser will produce Kirin Lager Beer and Kirin Ichiban.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. said it has begun making Kirin Brewery Co.'s Japanese beers at its Van Nuys brewery in an expansion of the two firms' alliance announced last year. It's the first time the world's largest brewer has produced a foreign brand at its facility for distribution in the U.S. Kirin already sells Budweiser in Japan through another joint venture. Japanese sales of Budweiser rose 14% in 1996.

Japan's largest brewer, Kirin Brewery Co., is looking to the United States and Europe to put the fizz back in flat profits. Acquisitions or joint ventures involving foreign companies are the key to a 12-year strategy Kirin hopes will transform it from a domestic brewer into a multinational, corporate planning manager Osamu Hasegawa said. Kirin must now look overseas because the domestic beer market is all but saturated, he said.

Is Godzilla a better pitch-creature than, uh, actor? That's the question facing Kirin Brewery of America, which in its largest promotion ever has teamed up with the much-hyped film about a Japanese monster. The film has been soundly panned by critics. The tie-in to the movie "Godzilla" is important to Kirin, which is busy expanding its business beyond Japanese restaurants, where it is a popular choice for washing down sushi. The U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Kirin Brewing Co.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. said it has begun making Kirin Brewery Co.'s Japanese beers at its Van Nuys brewery in an expansion of the two firms' alliance announced last year. It's the first time the world's largest brewer has produced a foreign brand at its facility for distribution in the U.S. Kirin already sells Budweiser in Japan through another joint venture. Japanese sales of Budweiser rose 14% in 1996.

The American subsidiary of Kirin Brewery Co. Japan said Thursday that it has moved its U.S. headquarters to Santa Monica to be closer to a new brewing operation and its West Coast customers. Kirin, which recently signed a joint venture with the Anheuser-Busch plant in Van Nuys, considers the West Los Angeles area a strategic regional location, said Jim Tate, company controller.

Kirin, Anheuser Form Agreement: Japan's biggest brewer, seeking to expand its U.S. beer sales, said it reached an agreement with Anheuser-Busch Cos. that will allow the American brewer to produce more types of Kirin-brand beer in the United States. Starting in March, Anheuser-Busch will make Kirin beers at its Los Angeles plant for sale mainly in the United States. Anheuser will produce Kirin Lager Beer and Kirin Ichiban.

Amgen Inc., the Thousand Oaks biotechnology concern, recently announced formation of a joint venture with the pharmaceutical division of Japan's Kirin Brewery Co. to market an experimental protein hormone that stimulates blood clotting. The partners said their licensing agreement with the drug's developer, Copenhagen-based Novo Nordish A/S, gives them the rights to a product that could complement another drug they are co-developing.

With the ceremonial tossing of rice by a Shinto priest, the first Japanese beer ever manufactured in the United States for large-scale sale in Japan rolled off the assembly lines at the Van Nuys Anheuser-Busch plant, opening the door to expanding trade. The new product, Kirin Ice Beer, came off the line at a rate of 2,000 cans per minute after being blessed by the Rev. Alfred Y. Tsuyuki, Shinto priest of the Konko Church of Los Angeles.

Pity the "transgenic" tomato. It has become a marketing disaster on both sides of the Pacific, and a cautionary tale for Japanese biotechnology. It began life in a California laboratory as a miracle product, a tomato bioengineered to be tasty but slow to spoil. It was the first gene-spliced food to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And in 1994, when Kirin Brewery Co., Japan's top beer maker, acquired the Japanese rights to the Flavr-Savr tomato from Calgene Inc.

For the past month, Calgene Inc., a Davis, Calif.-based firm specializing in genetically engineered plants, has been doing more than just splicing genes. It has been grafting business deals as well. First came the news of a $4-million agreement with Kirin Brewery Co. of Japan, announced March 15. And a week ago, the company reported that its researchers will genetically engineer disease-resistant vegetables with Sakata Seed America Inc. in a deal valued at less than $500,000.

Budweiser Expansion: Budweiser Japan Co. said it started full-scale operations with deliveries of Budweiser in Japan to thousands of retailers through a new nationwide network of more than 600 wholesalers. Anheuser-Busch Cos. formed a venture with a Japanese brewer, Kirin Brewery Co., to quadruple its market share of Budweiser beer in Japan to 90%.