YouвЂ™re not going to reach for a double IPA or a dark ale, youвЂ™re going to reach for a lager because youвЂ™re going to want to quench your thirst.вЂќ YouвЂ™re sitting outside and itвЂ™s 30 degrees with your friends. вЂњThe lagers are the perfect drink for the tropics,вЂќ Guerrier said. The most popular beer brands in the Cambodian market are lagers, light-coloured beers made from the fermented yeast at the bottom of brewing tanks.

Drinking is an emotional thing.вЂќД¬ambodians typically stick with more affordable beer, Guerrier said. вЂњThe breweries that will win out over the next few years will be the ones that build that connection to their products,вЂќ said Charles Guerrier, founder of the Asia Beer Championship, a regional beer industry competition. Unlike countries with more established industries, Cambodia only recently has seen the arrival of franchises and concepts of brand loyalty. Alcohol consumption in Cambodia has more than tripled since 2000, according to World Bank data. Cambodians are by and large beer drinkers, which fits into a culture known for outsized weddings and funerals. When it comesВ down to alcohol, there is not much of a domestic wine or spirits industry in the Kingdom. вЂњAnd I think it will come down to quality.вЂќ вЂњI think there will be a beer war,вЂќ Phillips said.

Erich Phillips, founding partner of Cerevisia Craft Brewery, said he will watch from the relative safety of the niche craft brewing market while the heavyweight breweries duke it out. Outpacing growth in Vietnam and Thailand, Cambodia was identified as one of the main contributors to AsiaвЂ™s growing beer production.ДЄ convergence of industrial brewers in the same city, in a country of only 16 million people, surprised beer industry insiders who now expect CambodiaвЂ™s competition to become more intense. While official consumption statistics are tough to verify and the industry appears to have taken a significant hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, the data suggest supply may be far exceeding demand, even before the arrival of the three new breweries.Д®rich Phillips, founding partner of Cerevisia Craft Brewery, believes consumers will benefit from the impending вЂњbeer war.вЂќ Photo: courtesy of Erich PhillipsД¬ambodians reportedly drank 610 million litres (161 million gallons) of beer in 2017, but production capacity jumped to 1.2 billion litres (317 million gallons) by 2019, according to global hops supplier BarthHaas.

There are already ten industrial-size brewery and beverage plants licensed in Cambodia, the Phnom Penh Post reported. Ziemann told the Globe that the company received construction orders from Hanuman Beverages in 2019 and the other two companies in 2020. China Daily reported Ziemann executives planned to target emerging markets, especially in Southeast Asia, and noted the company had more than 120 engineering, procurement and construction contracts for breweries in 33 countries as of 2016. The new $140 million Vattanac Brewery promises to annually deliver 1.8 billion cans of beer, and still low-profile Inter-Mattrid Beverage is expected to enter the competition with a $78 million brewery with an unannounced production capacity.ДЄll three breweries have been or are scheduled to be built by German manufacturer Ziemann Holvrieka, which is controlled by China International Maritime Containers, a Chinese state-owned group. Named for the monkey god who helped Hindu deity Rama defeat his enemies, Hanuman recently completed construction of a more than $160 million brewery, with an initial production capacity of 300 million bottles and cans of 330 millilitres (11.15 ounces). In an aisle of Toul TompoungвЂ™s Angkor Market, a bright blue can with the striking image of the monkey god Hanuman jostles for attention with brands many Cambodians have sipped for years.ДЄlongside other brews with notable labels вЂ“ the iconic temples emblazoned on CarlsbergвЂ™s Angkor, the snarl of HeinekenвЂ™s Tiger and the red C of Khmer BeveragesвЂ™ Cambodia Beer вЂ“ Hanuman Beverages is one of three new, industrial breweries on a quest to conquer the crowded Cambodian beer market.

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