Feb 20, 2023

02/20/2023 | 05:02am EST Message : *Required fields LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - British craft beer firmBrewDog said it will start to brew its Punk IPA, Hazy Jane andElvis Juice products in China through a joint venture withBudweiser China which it hopes will help to lift sales in thecountry. BrewDog said in a statement on Monday its beers would beproduced at Budweiser China’s Putian Craft Brewery in Fujianprovince, and its partner would use its sales and distributionnetwork to sell the beers across the country. "Chinese drinkers love craft beer, but the sector is stillvery new," BrewDog founder and chief executive James Watt said. "In Budweiser China, we have found a partner that shares ourgrowth vision for BrewDog in China." China currently accounts for less than 1% of BrewDog's groupsales, the company said, adding that the new joint ventureshould help to grow this by "significant multiples". It will also open several new bars in China by 2026, itsaid. Scotland-based BrewDog, owned by its founders, privateequity firm TSG Consumer Partners and crowdfunding investors,already has local production in the United States, Germany andAustralia. It had planned to list in London in 2020 but put those planson ice due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)