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WRITTEN BY
WILLIAM SMITH
PRODUCED BY
JUSTIN BRAND
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A S A H I E U R O P E LT D
IAN BRENTON, HEAD OF PROCUREMENT AT ASAHI EUROPE, DETAILS PROCUREMENT’S ROLE IN REINFORCING THE PREMIUMISATION OF ASAHI’S BRANDS
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J
apanese beverage company Asahi is internationally known for products such as its eponymous Super Dry lager. More
recently, it has acquired several European brands such as Peroni and Grolsch under its Asahi Europe subsidiary. Asahi Europe was indirectly formed following the acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev, with one of the conditions being to divest part of its European business. Ian Brenton is Head of Procurement at Asahi Europe, having formerly been at SABMiller. “I was responsible for a number of the packaging categories globally. When Asahi acquired the Western European Business Unit from SABMiller they needed a procurement team. They kindly offered me the opportunity to move from running a packaging specific agenda to managing the entire procurement agenda. As such, we’re a team of 23 people, working from the UK, Italy, Holland and Switzerland.”
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A S A H I E U R O P E LT D
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Brenton’s procurement department has been key to supporting the growth aims of Asahi Europe’s purchases. “Asahi bought the businesses because it wanted a footprint with global premium brands” says Brenton. “The procurement function’s primary aim is to support the growth of the business through competitive, predictable costs, improved working capital, assured supply and suppliersourced innovation, all generated in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.” As part of that
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ASAHI EUROPE CORPORATE VIDEO’ 07
journey, the company acquired the
that used to focus solely on Indirect
beverage, brewing and distribution
Procurement and very quickly intro-
business of Fuller, Smith & Turner
duce some experience in procure-
PLC in 2019, which brought its own
ment of brewing and packaging.”
challenges in terms of procurement.
A number of partnerships have
“In the UK we used to be a predomi-
been crucial to maintaining and
nantly import-focused business. We
accelerating that level of growth.
had little manufacturing of scale,
Aside from gleaning market informa-
but almost overnight we acquired
tion from a valuable source of trusted
half a million hectoliters worth of
suppliers, Asahi Europe has also
manufacturing in three different
partnered with procurement intel-
production locations – in London,
ligence firm Beroe. “We retained a
Cornwall and West Sussex. We’ve
strong relationship with Beroe after
had to take a procurement team
working with them previously. From w w w.a sa hib eer. eu
a market intelligence standpoint,
our primary aim, significantly increas-
Beroe offers a great deal. Whether
ing our hop yields and developing
we need it for budgeting or sourc-
innovative downstream products
ing activities, they give really good
for use in our premium portfolio .
insight that we’ve found very benefi-
One of the key tasks procurement
cial.” Other partnerships have come
fulfils is in providing packaging, to
into play across the company. “On
contain products as well as empha-
the agricultural side of the business,
sising their premium nature. “Part of
staying close to our farmers and
the challenge is ensuring that we can
cooperatives is really important to
readily respond to business requests
us. These relationships have led to
overcoming the specific challenges
the development of proprietary maize.
unique to each packaging type.
Similarly, by working with agricultural
Primary packaging, in most cases,
development companies we have met
is quite a capital intensive business
“PROCUREMENT ENABLES THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE BUSINESS THROUGH COMPETITIVE, PREDICTABLE COSTS, IMPROVED WORKING CAPITAL, ASSURED SUPPLY AND SUPPLIER-SOURCED INNOVATION, ALL GENERATED IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY & SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE MANNER” — Ian Brenton, Head of Procurement, Asahi Europe
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E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Ian Brenton, Asahi Europe Ian joined Asahi Europe on it’s very first day on Wednesday 11 October 2016 as Head of Procurement, based in Switzerland. He previously worked at SABMiller and before that PepsiCo, in roles spanning manufacturing, change management and procurement. Outside of work, a keen cyclist & climber, he is well on his way to becoming a Munro ‘compleater’ with 18 peaks left to climb of the total 284. Ian anticipates that by the time he reaches his final summit, it will have taken 20 years of dedication.
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A S A H I E U R O P E LT D
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2016
Year founded
€2bn
Approximate revenue
2,000+
Approximate number of employees
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A S A H I E U R O P E LT D
“WHEN WE WORK WITH SUPPLIERS WE DELIBERATELY LOOK FOR PROGRAMMES WHICH WILL HELP TO REDUCE OUR CO2 FOOTPRINT, IMPROVE RECYCLING RATES, REDUCE WASTAGE, INCREASE RECYCLED CONTENT AND AID OUR TRANSITION TO GREENER ENERGY” 12
— Ian Brenton, Head of Procurement, Asahi Europe – there’s quite a large capital investment before you bring on stream new capacity.” For cans, Asahi Europe partnered with a new entrant in the market. Their mutual relationship helped the upcoming company to establish itself, while Asahi gained a partner aligned with its strategy. “Supporting growth in glass or aluminium, or stainless steel for kegs, are not quick decisions to implement,” says Brenton. “You have to plan for the long term, and we often see five year plus contracts. If it’s corrugated or cardboard, typically used for con-
CO MPAN Y FACT S
• Procurement team working out of the UK, Italy, Holland and Switzerland • Acquired the UK beverage, brewing and distribution business of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC in 2019
sumer facing secondary packaging multi-packs, there are many suppliers and therefore more competition. This means that change can be implemented more quickly and contracts therefore tend to be a lot shorter.” Field Sales Distribution Units (FSDUs), Point of Sale Materials (POSMs) and glassware are examples of how we interact with consumers in the off trade. To meet the glassware needs of a relaunched Asahi Super Dry and updated Peroni, it was crucial to find suppliers who could act as both glassmakers and decorators to produce a premium product, which the company duly w w w.a sa hib eer. eu
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A S A H I E U R O P E LT D
accomplished. For FSDUs, these are in-store display units and key opportunities to emphasise the premium nature of products. A tender for suppliers resulted in a 50% reduction in lead times as well as a move to higher quality printing, whilst paying significantly less than before. POSMs, meanwhile, were previously delivered by a number of different suppliers. Following a tender, Asahi Europe has been able to consolidate orders for fewer shipments, streamlining the 14
process and having the knock-on effect of reducing the carbon footprint stemming from reducing its need to ship goods around the planet. For Asahi, sustainability is always a consideration in the process of procurement. “From a sustainability standpoint, when we work with suppliers we deliberately look for programmes which will help to reduce our CO2 footprint, improve recycling rates, reduce wastage, increase recycled content and aid our transition to greener energy,” says Brenton. For Brenton, Asahi Europe’s aim for the future is simple: “to become a premium beer powerhouse.”
“ALMOST OVERNIGHT WE ACQUIRED HALF A MILLION HECTOLITERS WORTH OF MANUFACTURING IN THE UK” — Ian Brenton, Head of Procurement, Asahi Europe
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To achieve this target will require the contribution of every part of the business, but it is clear that procurement has an important role to play. From its packaging efforts supporting premiumisation to integrating its latest UK acquisition, the work of procurement means that Asahi Europe is indeed becoming a premium beer powerhouse.
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Asahi Europe Ltd One Forge End Woking Surrey GU21 6DB UK +44 1483 718 100 info@asahibeer.eu www.asahibeer.eu