SINGAPORE: Breweries around the world celebrated as people began to leave the pandemic days behind them. After nearly three years of COVID - 19, drinkers were looking for something different.
For Tiger Beer, customers wanted sweeter and less boozy beer.
The brand, which turns 90 this year, has been jazzing up its product line to cater to changing tastes.
Andy Hewson, the managing director of Heineken-owned Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, said that the company is very passionate about making beer interesting and adding variety.
We are passionate about the big trends such as sweet-flavoured beer, sessionable beer, low and no-alcohol beer and other brews. A process that takes more than 500 hours to complete has the brand that is best known for its signature lager brewed with malt, hops and yeast.
In an interview with CNA, Hewson said that people want more variety and we are in the business of appealing to people of all ages. Hewson said that Tiger Beer is made and exported to more than 50 countries.
We have had one product for 80 years, but now we have a portfolio of Tiger. We have been innovating for the last few years and that is where we are headed. Tiger Crystal, the brand's answer to a sessionable beer that is typically described as simple to drink, less bitter and with an alcohol content of less than 5 per cent, has been popular among young consumers in the region since its launch in 2019.
Tiger Crystal has been launched in 10 countries in Asia and has had a lot of success, said Hewson, who described the beer as the brand's fastest-growing product. We are still growing in excess of 50 per cent year-on-year. It has been our secret weapon to appeal to millennials and Gen Zs, and it has really propelled and accelerated Tiger's growth. Hewson reckons that appetite for sessionable beer will continue despite changing tastes, which have seen more people choosing beer with even lower-alcoholic content or none at all.
Demand picked up during the pandemic, as people became more health conscious or simply don't want to get drunk. Major brewers such as Heineken, AB InBev and Asahi have jumped on the trend by offering non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic versions of their popular products.