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In 2024, Asahi Group held a ** percent share of the Australian mainstream beer market segment. Asahi, which purchased Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) in 2020, dominated all segments of the beer market alongside fellow Japanese beverage holding company Kirin, which manufactures popular beers such as XXXX, Tooheys, and Furphy. Carlton & United Breweries' beer portfolio includes mainstream brands such as Foster's, Great Northern, Victoria Bitter (VB), and Carlton. 

Beer retailing in Australia

After wine, beer is Australia’s second most consumed alcoholic beverage, with over ** percent of the legal-age population drinking beer in the 12 months to March 2023. In terms of brick-and-mortar retailing, off-premise beer sales, encompassing sales conducted through liquor stores, accounted for over **** of the country’s beer sales volume by distribution channel in 2024. On-premise beer sales conducted through, for example, bars, pubs, and restaurants, accounted for the remaining **. While Australia’s online alcohol retailing has increased in recent years, it lags behind in the wake of calls for online alcohol retailing reforms to prevent the delivery of alcohol to minors or intoxicated persons. Regarding beer companies, Kirin and Asahi are in the lead, with lager brand Foster's, operating under Asahi Group, ranked second among the most valuable alcohol brands in Australia in 2023.

Is no/low alcohol craft beer gaining traction?

New South Wales is home to just under a of Australia's craft beer consumers, with full-strength beer the most popular type consumed. Nonetheless, low-alcohol and alcohol-free craft beer consumption has been growing, fueled by a rise in consumer alcohol-moderating behaviors, with alcohol-free craft beer consumption doubling in 2022 from 2020 figures. With consumers welcoming no- and low-alcohol products within the Australian beer market, non-alcoholic beers are becoming serious contenders that could disrupt the commercial beer market.