Orion Breweries

Orion Draft Beer

Orion Breweries, Ltd. (オリオンビール株式会社, Orion Bīru Kabushiki Gaisha^?) is the 5th largest beer brewery in Japan, headquartered in Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture.^[1] The company commands approximately 1% of the Japanese beer market. However, it controls over 50% of the beer market on Okinawa.^{[citation needed]}

Founded in 1957 in Nago, Okinawa during the American occupation of Okinawa, Orion began making beer in 1959. Orion struggled to compete with the other major Japanese breweries, but after changing from a German-style beer to an American-style beer, it gained the top share in the Okinawan market. Since 2002, Orion has worked together with Asahi Breweries to manufacture Asahi beers in Okinawa, in return for Asahi's assistance in selling Orion beer outside of Okinawa.^{[citation needed]}

Orion Beer emphasises recycling all its waste, producing "zero elimination". For example, most bottles are tried to be recycled and plastic crates delivering bottles are melted down and re-cast as new crates.^{[citation needed]}

Orion Beer has been featured in professional wrestling, as Okinawan wrestler Menso-re Oyaji regularly carries an Orion Beer can with him to the ring during his matches.^[2]

References

1. ^ "会社概要 - オリオンビール." Orion Breweries. Retrieved on November 30, 2009.
2. ^ Gottlieb, Matthew (2010-09-07). "Orion: The National Beer of Okinawa". The Beer Connoisseur Online. http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/orion-beer. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 

External links

• Orion official site (in Japanese)