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When in 1994 the decision
was made to build a brewery
on the Chinese island of
Hainan with a planned
capacity of 3.5 million hecto
litres a year, the commercial
staff at Hainan Asia Pacific
Brewery were facing
a daunting task.
OPENING OF THE 'BREWERY OF
Ask any Hainanese now about his or
her favourite beer brand, and the
answer is likely to be 'Anchor Beer'.
The huge commercial success that
has meanwhile been achieved is the
result of much hard work. In recent
years, Hainan Asia Pacific Brewery
(HAPCO) has invested heavily in the
new brewery project in Hainan.
Indeed, a full-fledged commercial
organisation was set up as early as
1995 - well before the foundation
stone was laid at the building site in
the city of Jinpan. So when HAPCO
was finally able to inaugurate the
brand-new brewery on 19 May 1997,
the brewing company prided itself
not only on a state-of-the-art brew
ery but also a market that was al
ready favourably disposed towards
the Anchor and Tiger brands.
HAPCO is owned by APB (80%) and
the Chinese-based Hainan Brewery
Company Limited (20%). Heineken
N.V. has a 42.5% stake in APB.
The brewery was opened by Mr.
Cheng Tong Fatt (the Singaporean
Ambassador to China). Among those
attending the ceremony were Dr.
Michael Fam (Chairman of APB) and
Mr. Karei Vuursteen (Chairman of the
Executive Board of Heineken N.V.),
other board members of both compa
nies, high-level officials from central
government in Beijing, the Province
of Hainan and the City of Haikou, as
well as many prominent local
businessmen. The complete guest list
comprised 500 people.
HAPCO produces Tiger and Anchor
beer in bottles, cans and kegs.
Amstel beer is brewed for mainland
China and for exports and is sold in
bottles. The new brewery now has a
capacity of 650,000 hectolitres a
