Admittedly, we find it hard to gather enough reliable information about Snow Beer, which is, at present, the best-selling Chinese beer. CR Snow, a brewery that produces Snow Beer, is based in Beijing in order for the production, marketing and sale of the beer to the local beer market. It was founded in 1993 (some sources say 1994) in Shenyang, capital of the province of Liaoning in northeastern China. CR Snow used to have two main breweries (again, some sources say three) which were Shenyang and Dailan.
The beer was named “Snow Beer” most likely for its thick, rich head – pure white as a snow.
In just a short while, CR Snow became grew big, snapping up more breweries such as Jilin, Tianjin and Anshan, and began to spread its business outside the northeast.
Its acquisitions continued across the country, including more breweries such as Blue Sword, Dongxhiu, Longjin, Qianjing and Lion Nathan. In 2006, CR Snow went into a successful Greenfield expansion with its acquisitions in breweries located in Anhui, Dongguan, Lanzhuo, Harbin, Nangjing, and others.
Snow Beer Commercial
Today, CR Snow has over 80 breweries nationwide. Conglomerate China Resource Enterprise has a 51% stake in CR Snow, while British-South African brewery and beverage firm SAB Miller holds the remaining 49%.
Snow Beer has many other beer products – Blue Sword, Green Leaves, Huadan, Huadan Yate, Lowen, New Three Star, Shenquan, Shenyang, Singo, Sip, Tanjin, Yatai, Zero Clock, and 30-odd other regional beer brands. But CR Snow and SAB Miller’s most famed product is, of course, Snow Beer. As a flagship product, Snow Beer is the best-selling brand in CR Snow’s brewing history. In 2008, Snow Beer was proclaimed the world’s best beer in terms of production, having rolled out 61 million hectoliters. That is, despite being sold only in China and having never yet made a foothold in the Western markets – even in Hong Kong, where the beer is not yet one of the region’s regular beer brands but is slowly making a name in its beer markets.
As of 2010, Snow Beer sold around 16.5 billion pints, taking about 10% of the national beer consumption. China’s enormous population may account for this, but CR Snow has built over 80 breweries around the country that produce Snow Beer and other types of regional beer. As of this writing, CR Snow is predicting that the 2 billion hectoliters of Snow Beer shall be surpassed by 2013.
Many beer-drinking Westerners who think that Tsingtao is the best selling beer in China would be surprised to see that CR Snow has beaten all the competition, taking a share on the national market of 20%
However, its fame is slowly creeping outside the country, and many people around the world are becoming aware of Snow Beer. Only time will tell if Snow Beer, which has taken China by storm, would make a similar impact outside the country, most especially in the Western world.
Snow Beer Commercial – China