Beer Flows at Olympics
August 9, 2008 by Kelly Phillips Erb
Filed under Drinks
At 08:08 on 08/08/08, the Summer Olympic games kicked off in Beijing, China. There is, it seems, an “official” everything to commemorate the games – including an official beer.
Yanjing is the official beer of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and no wonder, since it is the largest brewery in Asia. It currently holds a whopping 85% market share in China. That’s significant in a country that is increasingly becoming a force in the brewing world.
How much beer does the brewery expect to sell? Here’s some beer for thought… During the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, visitors downed nearly 10,000 glasses of beer each day. No one is exactly sure how that will translate to Beijing but 10,000/day for 16 days equals 160,000 glasses, quite a quaff. Consider that 5 million foreign travelers are expected at the Games – and 120 million Chinese. Those are pretty good odds that Yanjing will sell a decent amount of beer.
As to the availability outside of China? Yanjing is reportedly widely available in Canada and can be found in 16 US states, including Massachusetts, New York, Florida and California.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out the web site… Be aware that it’s in Chinese and there is no translation button on the site!
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(c) Brew Ha-Ha, 2008
