Thread: Beer Lao: Laos on a Mission to Create a Global Buzz

Just Another Beer? Not to Those in Laos on a Mission to Create a Global Buzz

VANG VIENG, Laos — In this tourist town on the Nam Song River, Beer Lao is as ubiquitous as sneakers and sunburns

Backpackers stroll the streets with a bottle of lager in each hand. Beer snobs like it, too.Time magazine has called it Asia’s best local beer. And the brand’s logo adorns everything from patio furniture to street signs.

But the buzz stops there. Outside Laos, Beer Lao is notoriously hard to find.
Like a film festival winner without a distribution deal, the rice-based lager has struggled to turn cult status into anything other than good press. Even with backing from the Danish brewer Carlsberg, which owns 50 percent of the company that makes Beer Lao in partnership with the Lao government, just 1 percent of its annual production is exported.



Lao Brewery is building a network of fans-turned-distributors who import and sell the beer in select markets. Some distributors are former travelers who see potential in a brand with little international exposure. Others just really like the beer.

In Hong Kong, the brand is in the hands of Jerry Cheung, who has a love for lager and an affinity for the laid-back pace in Laos.

Mr. Cheung first tried Beer Lao while living in Cambodia in 2006. “It was the most unique beer I’d ever tasted,” he recalled. He flew to Vientiane, where the beer is made, soon afterward.

Beer Lao is made with rice in addition to malt. This, Mr. Cheung says, gives the beer a flavor that is light and crisp.

Not everyone is sold on the beer. Randy Mosher, a beer marketing consultant and author of “Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink,” is skeptical about the beer’s “unique” taste.

“This is very much one of the international-style pilsners that happens to be brewed in exotic locations,” he said. “Fizzy yellow beers tend to be all the same.”

Mr. Cheung, however, was sold. Within a year he had quit his job, persuaded Lao Brewery to appoint him as a distributor and founded an import firm with two Canadian friends.

That firm, Aseurica, is now the exclusive distributor for Hong Kong and Macao. It sells cases of beer to local bars and sponsors yachting trips and beach parties aimed at expatriates.

The beer is priced competitively, Mr. Cheung said. In Hong Kong’s central district, it sells for 44 Hong Kong dollars, or about $6, a bottle — about the same price as Carlsberg, Stella Artois or Heineken.

Part of the challenge is selling grass-roots chic to the masses. Since Hong Kong is low on backpackers and high on bankers, Mr. Cheung and his partners use locally made promotional materials instead of merchandise from headquarters.

This allows them to offer, say, a yacht-appropriate custom-fitted bottle cooler instead of a branded beer glass.

Mr. Cheung said the strategy was a bit do-it-yourself, “but it gives us flexibility.”

Butsarakorn Srikhongrak, Lao Brewery’s marketing manager, said the ad hoc approach was working. Because of similar deals with a handful of distributors, Beer Lao is available across Southeast Asia and in cities in the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. There are plans to expand to the Philippines, Israel and China next year, she said.

Lao Brewery said it sold 132 million liters, or almost 280 million pints, of beer last year and had revenue of $145 million. This year, the company is expecting revenue to grow 10 percent.

Beer Lao enjoys a 99 percent market share in Laos. In other countries, however, when it is lined up next to big brands like Heineken and Corona, it becomes more critical to stand out.

An added challenge, said Sivilay Lasachack, Lao Brewery’s Laos-born, Czech-trained brew master, is that few people know what — or where — Laos is.

“When I travel internationally, people say, ‘I like your beer, but what is Laos?’ ” she said. “I tell them it’s the country next to Vietnam, come visit.”

Mr. Cheung encounters similar questions. “Even here in Asia, people are like, ‘Laos, where is that?’ ” he said.

Relative obscurity, or the lure of the exotic, is certainly a big part of the appeal — as Coors learned in the days when its beer was available only in the Western United States. That may be why Carlsberg and Lao Brewery are moving slowly.

It is definitely why Fiona Read, a teacher from Britain, shopped for Beer Lao T-shirts while vacationing in Vang Vieng recently. A friend from Britain had asked for a Beer Lao shirt. Ms. Read obliged.

“Apparently it’s quite a cool beer to drink in London,” she said.

“I think it’s considered sort of a funky, travelers’ beer,” she added. “Anybody who has traveled would drink it.”

Lao Brewery hopes that proves true. Not everyone has traveled, but nothing makes you thirsty like a beer you cannot drink.


Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/business/global/26beer.html?_r=2&ref=asia


It is a good beer better tasting than Chang or Singa. Good luck to them.

I used to be able to buy Singha Gold in tins but like Kloster and Amarit I haven't seen it for a long time. Federbrau is trying to make inroads but it doesn't seem to have any taste.

Heineken is about the only beer I can stomach. As for that imported muck they call Strongbow...

never tried beer lao, Anyone know of somewhere in phuket that sell's it ?

Originally Posted by seamusogin

never tried beer lao, Anyone know of somewhere in phuket that sell's it ?

The Boatyard and Michaels Bar - both in Phuket town sell it.
Also if you want a "carryout" then I believe that Promthep supermarket on the Chaofa West road and the booze shop - on the left hand side -50 meters from Chalong circle going towards Rawai have it .

Not a big beer drinker myself but I like Chang and Beer Lao Dark if I can find it !
Its sort of a cross between Banks's Mild and Newcastle Brown ! - nice !

Originally Posted by Fuzzy Bob

As for that imported muck they call Strongbow...

Strongbow's a cider, made from apples, nothing like beer. It tastes the same here as it does in the uk. Pretty rank.

For me Asahi is my beer of choice. I like Beer Lao, but it does taste better before its travelled. Years ago, after my first trip to Lao, I brought back 12 big bottles for my friends to try but after 12 hours of the bottles jiggaling about in my bag on the train back it tasted bloody awfull.

Originally Posted by Happyman

Originally Posted by seamusogin

never tried beer lao, Anyone know of somewhere in phuket that sell's it ?

The Boatyard and Michaels Bar - both in Phuket town sell it.
Also if you want a "carryout" then I believe that Promthep supermarket on the Chaofa West road and the booze shop - on the left hand side -50 meters from Chalong circle going towards Rawai have it .

Not a big beer drinker myself but I like Chang and Beer Lao Dark if I can find it !
Its sort of a cross between Banks's Mild and Newcastle Brown ! - nice !

I second that- the BL Dark is good, too.

Does anyone know where you can get BL dark in Thailand??? I live in Trang..way down south!

I don't think you can get it anymore. When we order the regular beer lao, the dark one isn't on offer.

thanks for the info happyman,

Not seen it here - only ever get it when I go to Laos

Originally Posted by Happyman

Not seen it here - only ever get it when I go to Laos

Only a few months ago it was available at the Cat House and Big Mango, which lists BL Dark on its Internet menu: The Big Mango :: Happy Hour

Beer Lao would be my first choice if it was readily avaivable. But alas...

Originally Posted by melvbot

Skateboarding Is Not a Crime

Alas, it is in the States...think they have some 100+ laws regarding it or someshi* like that...my mate used to ave' a t-shirt stating something like that...

I just had the 'skateboarding is not a crime' one...soon they will link it to terrorism I'm sure...

Had a better one stating 'Football is bent' another skater's t-shirt..great one that especially in the UK...that went down like a envelope full of anthrax back there.

I had heard from a mate when he went to Lao recently, that he couldn't find BL dark anywhere!!! shit if they've stopped doing that...it only for the wine, cheese and indian nosh that i'd bother to go there!!! and the green of course...tuk tuk drivers are so helpful!

The region's best IMO.

Originally Posted by JuniorExPat

I'm a bit of a fan of Beerlao so I've voted for Beer Law on the assumption that it's a typo.

Yes it's a typo error, there is a couple there, sat on my reading glasses last night

Beer Lao my favourite, followed by Anchor beer, they both have a more fresh, natural taste to them compare to Singha or Chang.

Beer Lao has always been my favourite, when i can get it.

I have found, however, that more and more bars seem to have it in BKK recently.

It's not always on the menu though, so asking if they have it is a good idea IMHO..

Originally Posted by gjbkk

Yes it's a typo error, there is a couple there, sat on my reading glasses last night

Arrh good, I can vote now.