Scottish craft beer group BrewDog will begin brewing Punk IPA and other beers in China and will open more bars in the country after forming a joint venture with Budweiser China, the largest international brewer in the market, reports the Financial Times. The privately owned UK craft beer maker, which has been seeking a fresh start after it postponed a planned initial public offering and faced claims of a toxic culture from staff, said it wanted to tap into a new but growing craft beer market.
It was also shifting its expansion away from its home market of the UK because of the impact of inflation on brewing and hospitality venues there, said BrewDog chief executive James Watt.
“We don’t want to be owned by ‘big beer’ but we do want to become a global beer business,” said Watt. “Most of our focus in putting our capital to work is international. The environment is very challenging in the UK.”