Osmond ChiaBusiness reporter
Japan is facing a shortage of Asahi products, including beer and bottled tea, as the drinks giant grapples with the impact of a major cyber-attack that has affected its operations in the country.
Most of the Asahi Group’s factories in Japan were brought to a standstill after the attack hit its ordering and delivering systems on Monday.
Major Japanese retailers, including 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, have now warned customers to expect shortages of Asahi products.
In a statement on Friday, Asahi said it was “unable to provide a clear timeline for recovery” but had started “partial manual” processing of orders and shipments.
Asahi is the biggest brewer in Japan, but it also makes soft drinks and food products, as well as supplying own-brand goods to other retailers.
It owns Fullers in the UK and global brands including Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch. However, Asahi has said that only its operations in Japan – which account for about half its sales – have been affected by the attack.
In its latest statement, Asahi said that as a result of containment measures following the attack, ordering and shipment systems in Japan had been affected and it was also unable to receive emails from external sources.
“Although system-based order and shipment processes remain suspended, ensuring product supply to customers has been set as our top priority and we have begun partial manual order processing and shipment,” it said.
Asahi also said it was preparing to reopen its call centre operations next week.
Atsushi Katsuki, Asahi president and group chief executive, apologised for the disruption.
“We are making every effort to restore the system as quickly as possible, while implementing alternative measures to ensure continued product supply to our customers,” he said.
In a statement on Thursday, FamilyMart – which is one of Japan’s largest convenience stores – said its Famimaru range of bottled teas, which are made by Asahi, were expected to be in short supply or out of stock.
“We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused,” said FamilyMart, adding that it was working with Asahi to resume the sale of the products.
7-Eleven, the Japanese-owned global convenience store chain, has halted shipments in the country of Asahi products, including its popular Super Dry beer.
A spokesperson for 7-Eleven said its shops have been advised to expect a shortage of Asahi products.
Lawson, another major Japanese retailer, also said it expected some Asahi products to be in short supply from Friday.
The retailer said it planned to stock up on alternative products to minimise the impact on customers.
Japanese supermarket chain Life Cooperation also warned that Asahi products may soon go out of stock.
