Beer: investigation into major Japanese brewers over alleged price-fixing cartel

NEW DELHI - Shares in Japan’s leading beer producers plummeted on Wednesday after the competition regulator launched an investigation into suspicions that the sector’s four main players had formed a cartel to manipulate prices.

 The companies under investigation are Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory, all based in Tokyo and all of which have been raided, as has the headquarters of the Brewers Association of Japan. The investigation launched yesterday is the first of this scale undertaken by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) in the food and beverage sector.

Sapporo’s shares fell by as much as 3.73 per cent before closing down 1.79 per cent; Kirin’s shares fell by just over 3 per cent during the session, hitting a three-month low, before closing down 1.44 per cent; Asahi fell by almost 2.5 per cent before recouping some of its losses to end the session down 0.97 per cent. Suntory is not listed. The brewers – which together control over 90 per cent of the Japanese domestic market – confirmed the searches and stated their intention to cooperate with the authorities.

Under the Antimonopoly Act, companies found guilty of illegally fixing prices may be subject to sanctions, including fines and orders designed to prevent further infringements. Unlike routine administrative inspections, investigations such as the one launched yesterday by the JFTc are only initiated in cases deemed particularly serious or harmful to consumers, and allow for the search of company premises and the seizure of evidence on the basis of warrants issued by a court.

The antitrust investigation follows a series of simultaneous price rises, which were justified on the grounds of rising raw material and transport costs. The four companies under investigation adjusted their price lists in October 2022 and April 2025. Further price adjustments came into effect a few days ago, following the rationalisation of alcohol taxation.