Japan's four biggest beer makers are raided by antitrust officials over suspicions they ran a price-fixing cartel

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission has raided offices at Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory Spirits — the four brewers whose combined share of Japan's domestic beer market exceeds 90% — on suspicion that they secretly coordinated price increases charged to wholesalers. Senior figures at the companies are believed to have held covert meetings over an extended period to align the timing and magnitude of rises, with individual increases reportedly ranging from a few yen to tens of yen. Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo shares all fell when news of the probe broke, with Sapporo dropping as much as 3.73% and Kirin sliding to a three-month low.

The JFTC also raided the headquarters of the Brewers Association of Japan — the first investigation of this scale in Japan's food and beverage sector.

The alleged price coordination centred on simultaneous hikes in October 2022 and April 2025, which the firms publicly justified by pointing to higher costs for raw materials and transport.

Australian subsidiaries of all four firms — including Carlton & United Breweries and Lion, which brew Victoria Bitter, XXXX and Little Creatures — insist the investigation is entirely unrelated to their local operations.