Sapporo to tie up with Kyodo Milk

Today, Japan times reported that Sapporo is tying up with Kyodo Milk and taking a 5% ownership stake in the beverage and dessert maker to jointly develop milk and other products (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20101119a7.html).

This is a great example of the ongoing trend a lot of Japanese beer companies are following after seeing unfavorable performance of their beer beverages. In the recent past, we have seen several Japanese brewing companies partner with other brewing giants throughout Asia. In this case, Sapporo is taking its partnering to a further level by diversifying with a non-beer brewing company. It will be interesting to see just how far these companies will diversify themselves if the industry continues to produce bleak results.