TOKYO — Japanese drinks maker Suntory Holdings will spend about 3.2 billion yen ($30 million) to expand a gin distillery in Osaka, the company’s latest effort to meet rising domestic and international demand for the spirit.
Bottling capacity will double at the distillery and come online in early 2022.
More people are imbibing at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, but this has not hurt Suntory’s shipments of craft gin, which rose 22% on the year in 2020. According to Tokyo-based market research company Intage Holdings, sales of domestic gin overtook those of imported brands in Japan last year. Suntory believes Japanese drinkers prefer domestic spirits, as they consider them “a good fit for their taste.”
Although the value of Japan’s gin exports declined in 2020, the trend is generally upward. Exports that year were up 171% versus 2017 at 1.74 billion yen, according to the Ministry of…
