[/floatl]Sapporo Beer has had an agreement with Guinness dating back to 1964 allowing the company to sell the famous Irish stout in Japan. That relationship is now at an end. Diageo, the owners of the Guinness brand, have announced that the contract with Sapporo will finish next May. From June 2009, the new Japanese distributors will be Kirin, who will also assume responsibilities for Kilkenny and Smirnoff Ice. Guinness, makes up around 3% of Sapporo's sales but the company has slipped to fourth place in the domestic market and it is believed that Diageo wanted a company willing to put more marketing resources behind their brand. It's not clear how the the new arrangements will work in practice but it seems likely that any British or Irish pub serving Guinness will be obliged to take Yebisu beer off the menu. In Tokyo, Sapporo currently operates six Dubliners pubs which were mostly converted from Sapporo Lion beer hall restaurants and it seems unlikely that they will survive the loss of the contract. There are no concrete details so far on Kirin's plans to promote Guinness in Japan.Related FG Thread: Guinness is Genki
none other than the ones you've already sent me, G!
left in this world we will do OK. Guinness 
is not really a loss. More like a plague lifted off the, to the most part, righteous.
