NEWS
SUNTORY LOOKS TO PRODUCE & SELL LOCALLY AS GLOBAL MARKETS HIT BY TRADE WAR
By Susan Lewis
8-4-2025
Source: Suntory Holdings
Japanese drinks giant Suntory is looking to shift to producing and selling locally as it girds for a potential trade war triggered by President Trump’s tariff policy, according to Suntory’s new president Nobuhiro Torii.
As the great-grandson of the company's founder, Torii took the rein of Suntory less than two weeks ago.
He caught the market by surprise by handing back ownership of ASC Fine Wines - a leading wine distributor in Greater China - to its founders Don St Pierre father and son last week.
The company's soft drinks are mainly produced in their destination markets, but spirits such as tequila must be made in specific locations and are more vulnerable to excise duties, Torii told Reuters news agency.
That means making Bourbon for the American market in the USA, and Japanese whisky domestically for consumption at home.
"We will produce and try to sell locally," said Torii, who took over as president at the closely held consumer conglomerate on 25 March. "That's the key strategy with the tariffs."
President Trump revealed last Wednesday a broad set of new tariffs on trading partners, including a larger-than-anticipated 24 percent levy on Japanese goods.
Trump’s policy presents a dilemma for Japanese companies like Suntory, which has spent decades expanding its global footprint as a hedge against an ageing, shrinking consumer market at home.
Suntory spent USD16 billion in 2014 to buy US spirits maker Beam, but the group also makes wine and Orangina-branded soda in Europe, as well as Pepsi drinks and canned coffee in Southeast Asia.
As for disruptions from tariffs, Suntory is somewhat protected by the defensive nature of the drinks sector, Torii said.
"People become thirsty when it's hot, and people want to drink beer for relaxing," he told Reuters. "Of course, business and the economy itself is possibly becoming more volatile, and there might be a trade war, but still we have to manage that."
As Trump has ramped up tariff rhetoric in recent months, Suntory shipped extra supplies of tequila from its Mexican factories into the USA to get in before the excise increases. The company is also considering shifting sales of Scotch whiskies to Europe from the USA.
Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii established Japan's first whisky distillery in the western city of Yamazaki in 1923. The company name is a combination of "sun" and his surname.
Nobuhiro Torii, 59, earned degrees from Keio University in Tokyo and Brandeis University in Massachusetts, and worked at the Industrial Bank of Japan, now part of the Mizuho banking group, before joining Suntory.
As president, he succeeds Takeshi Niinami, who in 2014 became the first person outside of the founding family to run the group. Niinami, one of Japan's most influential executives, is staying on as chairman and CEO.
Niinami last year said Suntory could be in the market for an overseas purchase in the order of USD10 billion, and often spoke of business growth in India and China.
By contrast, Torii said he's more focused on investing in Suntory's existing brands, and has no acquisition candidates in mind.
"It's very easy to say that China and India are attractive, but I still don't know how to make money over there," he said. "Organic growth is our priority at this moment."
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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