On the morning of September 29, 2025, a ransomware cyberattack struck Asahi Group Holdings, one of Japan’s most prominent beer and beverage companies, sending shockwaves through the nation’s brewing industry. The attack, which crippled Asahi’s servers and brought its operations to a grinding halt, has since rippled outward, putting unprecedented pressure on competitors and creating a scramble among restaurants and retailers for alternative supplies. The story of how Japan’s brewers have responded offers a revealing look at the interconnected nature of modern supply chains—and the vulnerabilities that come with them.
According to Kyodo News, the cyberattack led to a major system outage at Asahi, leaving group companies unable to process orders, ship products, or handle customer inquiries. The company confirmed the incident was a ransomware attack—an increasingly common and disruptive tactic in the cybercrime world. Asahi’s statement reflected the uncertainty and frustration of the moment: “We don’t know when normal operations can resume.”
The timing could hardly have been worse. Asahi is a household name in Japan, with its flagship Super Dry beer a staple in restaurants, izakayas, and supermarkets. The company operates roughly 30 factories nationwide, producing not just beer but a wide array of beverages and food products. When the attack hit, Asahi halted production and shipments at most of these facilities, leaving a gaping hole in the market.
The impact was immediate and far-reaching. Restaurants and drinking establishments, suddenly unable to source their usual supplies from Asahi, turned en masse to the company’s chief competitors: Kirin Holdings, Suntory Holdings, and Sapporo Holdings. As reported by Nikkei, these brewers were quickly overwhelmed by a surge in orders. In response, all three companies began limiting shipments of certain products, particularly those destined for restaurants, in an effort to manage demand and prevent shortages.
The domino effect was clear. “After the cyberattack on Asahi Group Holdings on September 29, 2025, Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo began limiting shipments of certain products due to a surge in orders from restaurants seeking alternative beers,” Nikkei reported on October 6, 2025. For many restaurateurs, the scramble to find beer for their customers became a daily headache, while for consumers, the familiar sight of Asahi Super Dry on tap or on store shelves became a rarity overnight.
Asahi’s own recovery efforts have been painstaking and, at times, improvisational. By Monday, October 6, the company had managed to partially resume production at 15 of its factories, according to NHK. Shipments of six products from the mainstay Super Dry brand were underway, but the process was anything but business as usual. With automated systems still down, orders had to be taken manually by telephone—a throwback to an earlier era, and a stark reminder of how much modern manufacturing depends on digital infrastructure.
“The company resumed shipping its flagship ‘Super Dry’ beer starting Thursday, October 2, 2025, by taking orders manually via telephone,” Kyodo News noted. It was a slow, labor-intensive process, but for many in the industry, even a partial resumption of supplies was a welcome sign of progress. Asahi officials also indicated that customer service operations, which had been suspended along with production, would resume within the week of October 7, 2025, again relying on telephone inquiries to bridge the gap until full digital functionality could be restored.
The company’s beer subsidiary provided a further update on its phased recovery plan, stating that it would resume partial shipments of 16 whisky and beer-like beverage products from October 15, 2025. This gradual ramp-up, while encouraging, still left many questions unanswered, particularly regarding the timeline for a full return to normal operations. Asahi’s statement summed up the uncertainty: “We don’t know when normal operations can resume.”
Meanwhile, the strain on competitors continued. Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo, all major players in Japan’s beverage market, found themselves in the unusual position of having to limit shipments—not because of production issues on their end, but because of a sudden, overwhelming shift in demand. Restaurants and retailers, desperate to fill the Asahi-shaped gap in their inventories, placed orders at a volume rarely seen outside of peak holiday seasons. The brewers responded by “adjusting shipments of some products, such as beer for restaurants,” as NHK reported, in hopes of maintaining supply stability for their existing customers.
For the broader Japanese beverage industry, the Asahi cyberattack has served as a wake-up call. The incident laid bare the risks inherent in digital dependence, as well as the fragility of supply chains in the face of targeted disruption. While manual workarounds and cooperation among industry rivals have helped keep beer flowing—albeit in reduced quantities—the episode has underscored the need for stronger cybersecurity measures and more robust contingency planning.
The ramifications of the attack extend beyond logistics and consumer choice. For Asahi, the reputational damage and financial losses are still being tallied. The company was forced to postpone the release of new products, disrupting carefully timed marketing campaigns and potentially ceding ground to competitors in a fiercely contested market. For Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo, the episode has brought both opportunity and challenge: a chance to win new customers, but also the risk of overextending their own production and distribution networks.
Industry observers note that the Japanese beer market is already highly competitive, with shifting consumer preferences and demographic changes putting pressure on brewers to innovate and adapt. The cyberattack, while dramatic, is just the latest in a series of challenges facing the sector. Yet it has also highlighted the resilience and adaptability of Japan’s beverage companies, who have responded with a mix of caution, collaboration, and old-fashioned ingenuity.
As the week of October 7, 2025, unfolds, Asahi’s factories are gradually coming back online, and the company’s customer service lines are once again ringing. But the full story of the cyberattack—its origins, its perpetrators, and its long-term impact—has yet to be written. For now, Japan’s brewers and their customers are focused on the immediate task of keeping the nation’s glasses full, one shipment at a time.
For many in the industry, the events of the past week have been a sobering reminder of the challenges of the digital age. Yet, as beer taps begin to flow again and supply chains slowly recover, there’s a sense that Japan’s brewers—like their customers—are determined to weather the storm, learn its lessons, and move forward.
