Murree Brewery

Murree Brewery

Murree Brewery's logo
Location	National Park Road, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
Opened	1860; 165 years ago (1860)
Key people	Ch. Mueen Afzal (Chairman) Isphanyar M. Bhandara (CEO)
Revenue	Rs. 18.59 billion (US$64 million)[1] (2023)
Operating income	Rs. 2.12 billion (US$7.3 million)[1] (2023)
Net income	Rs. 1.27 billion (US$4.4 million)[1] (2023)
Total assets	Rs. 16.65 billion (US$58 million)[1] (2023)
Divisions	Liquor division Tops division Glass division
Website	www.murreebrewery.com
Active beers
Name Type Murree beers Murree Beer Beer Murree's Classic Lager Lager Murree's Millennium Beer Lite Export Pils Pilsner Murree's Strong Brew Beer Murree's Special Strong Brew Beer Strauss Beer Beer Murree's Stout Beer Stout Murree's Wheat Beer Witbier Liquors beers Rarest Malt Whisky Whisky Malt Whisky Classic Whisky Vintage Whisky Whisky Bolskaya Vodka Murree's Vodka Vodka Gin beers Silver Top Gin Gin London Dry Gin Dry Gin Citrus Gin Gin Lemo' Lime Gin Gin Non Alcoholic beers Cindy NAB Malt-79 Stout

Murree Brewery is a Pakistani multinational manufacturer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. It is Pakistan's largest and oldest producer of alcoholic products. In 2015, it produced 10 million litres of beer, along with hundreds of tons of single malt whisky, vodka and brandy.^[2][3] Founded by the British in 1860, it is a publicly traded company listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, and its products are exported to India and Bangladesh.^[4][5] In 2014, the company established a flagship store on Park Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City.^[6] In 2013, it was named by Forbes as one of Asia's 200 best companies.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

The brewery has two manufacturing units, one located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, and the other in Hattar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It has three divisions – Liquor (which deals with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks), Tops (which focuses on food items, mineral water, and fruit juices), and Glass (which makes glass jars and bottles) divisions.^[12] It is one of Pakistan's fastest-growing companies.^[13][14]

History

Ruins of one of the earliest buildings used by Murree Brewery

The Murree Brewery Company Ltd. was established in 1860 to meet the demands of British military and civilian personnel at Ghora Gali near the resort town of Murree.^[15] The Brewery was managed by the family of Edward Dyer. He was the father of Colonel Reginald Dyer, the British army officer who was infamously responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} In the 1880s the company established a further brewery in Rawalpindi and a distillery in Quetta.

Due to scarcity of water in Murree in the 1920s, brewing was mostly transferred to Rawalpindi, but malting continued at Ghora Gali until the 1940s, when this property was sold. This brewery, built in the Gothic revival style of architecture, was burnt during the independence of Pakistan in 1947, while the brewery in Quetta was destroyed in the 1935 Quetta earthquake. In the 1940s, the controlling share or interest in the brewery was obtained by a Parsi, Peshton Bandhara, who used to run a liquor business in Lahore before Pakistani independence. His son, the late M.P. Bandhara later carried on the business and now it is being run by a grandson, Isphanyar M. Bandhara.^[21]

In the 1960s the brewery imported oak casks from North America, Australia and Spain, and the underground cellars now hold over half a million litres of malt whisky for varying periods of maturation up to 12 years. Murree brewery produces a single malt whisky.^{[citation needed]}

A can of Peach Malt, one of Murree Brewery's non-alcoholic products.

A new beer canning and modern bottle filling facility were installed in the 1990s, imported from Germany.^[22] In 2001, the brewery had been temporarily closed for producing too much polluting waste. Authorities slapped the environmental protection order on the Murree Brewery in Rawalpindi, Islamabad's twin city.^[23]

"Rarest Malt Whisky"

In 2007, Murree became the Muslim world's first distillery to make 20-year-old malt whisky named "Rarest Malt Whisky". But, according to law, it cannot be exported and cannot be consumed by 97% of the population of Pakistan as local law prohibits Muslims from drinking alcohol. However, the CEO of Murree Brewery claimed that "99 per cent of his customers are Muslims in Pakistan".^[24][25]

Recent growth

In 1977, the Murree Brewery suffered a significant setback when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto imposed a total alcohol prohibition in Pakistan.^[26] Subsequently, the government of President General Zia-ul-Haq amended this law, requiring anyone wishing to consume alcohol to present credentials demonstrating that they were non-Muslim. The small Christian, Hindu, and Parsi communities were not large enough to support the enterprise, and production had to be scaled back.

However, gradual relaxation of the prohibition laws has allowed Murree to introduce variations of Murree beer, vodka, gin, and whisky. Today, all Murree products are readily available in legal liquor shops that operate openly in Karachi in places like Zamzama and Defence. It is also available in the interior of Sindh.

Murree Beer was initially being produced in Austria for European markets and was available in various Pakistani and Indian restaurants, an enterprise which has since ceased since 2004. The current CEO, Isphanyar Bhandara has announced plans to pursue co-brewing with Foster's, but this scheme is still in development.

The Murree Brewery is one of the oldest public companies of South Asia. Its shares were traded on the Calcutta Stock Exchange as early as 1902, and it is now the oldest continuing industrial enterprise of Pakistan and among the top 25 performing public companies on the Karachi Stock Exchange.

Murree's biggest competitor is the Quetta Distillery, and its products have to increasingly vie with smuggled brands from the West and India.^[27]

On 6 June 2012, Scout Willis, the daughter of Hollywood actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, was arrested in New York City and jailed overnight for drinking a beer,^[28] manufactured by Murree Brewery. This incident resulted in free publicity for the company via word-of-mouth marketing, leading in to line up various distributors in the USA and Dubai as part of its expansion plans.^[26]

In 2013, Murree Brewery opened a franchise in India to a Bangalore-based entrepreneur, allowing the brewing, bottling and marketing of the beer in India.^[29]

Shareholder dispute

On 19 October 2016, the Lahore High Court heard the case between Kingsway Capital LLP and Murree Brewery Co. Ltd., where Kingsway Capital LLP petitioned the Murree Brewery Co. Ltd. EOGM of 29 September 2016 to be declared as invalid and unlawful. The petition was thereafter allowed.^[30] On 7 September 2016, Kingsway Fund replied to the Pakistan Stock Exchange regarding allegations in the "Murree Letter"^[31] published by the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 3 September 2016.^[32]

See also

• Murree beer

Notes

1. "Murree Brewery Annual Report 2023" (PDF). murreebrewery.com. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
2. "Murree with a curry: Pakistan alcohol booms". The Express Tribune. 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
3. "Pakistani distillery challenges scotch whiskey". The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL: Tronc, Inc. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2017-10-17. But it's here in dusty Rawalpindi that the only malt whiskey distillery in the Muslim world is preparing to launch its newest product--a 21-year single malt that it claims will rival the best Scotch whiskey
4. "Murree: The legendary Pakistani beer that wants to come to India". The Indian Express. 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
5. "Murree Brewery soon to brew in India – The Express Tribune". 2013-11-30. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
6. Mierjeski, Alex (2014-07-01). "Pakistan's Only Legal Brewery Is Coming to the US". Vice. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
7. "Murree Brewery on the Forbes Asia's 200 Best Under A Billion List". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
8. "Murree Brewery in Pakistan". 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
9. "Murree Brewery Still brewing in a dry land: Pakistan's Parsi Brewery". Parsi Khabar. 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
10. "Alcoholic Drinks in Pakistan". Euromonitor.com. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
11. Paracha, Nadeem F. (2013-12-05). "Alcohol in Pakistan: The prohibition and after". Dawn. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
12. "Murree in 1QFY23". Business Recorder. 2022-10-26. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
13. "Pakistan's Murree Brewery Thrives Despite Muslim Laws". Retrieved 2016-09-12.
14. "Murree Brewery Company | Business Recorder". Business Recorder. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
15. "Murree Brewery Company Ltd: History". Murree Brewery Company Ltd. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
16. Colvin, Ian Duncan (1929-01-01). The life of General Dyer. Edinburgh; London: W. Blackwood & Sons Ltd. OCLC 1335678.
17. Colvin, Ian Duncan (2006-01-01). The Life of General Dyer. Unistar Books.
18. Collett, Nigel (2006-10-15). The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer. A&C Black. ISBN 9781852855758.
19. Saikia, Arunabh (2016-04-23). "How Old Monk went from India's star to another has-been". Mint on Sunday. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
20. "Reginald Edward Harry Dyer – The Butcher of Amritsar | Lawrence College Ghora Gali". Lawrence College Ghora Gali. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
21. "Ample sports strengthen youth's mental and physical ability, Isphanyar Bhandara". Global Village Space. 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
22. Hussain, Dilawar (September 14, 2015). "Murree Brewery: self-financed capacity expansion". DAWN.COM.
23. "Pollution problem for Pakistan brewery". BBC News. 2001-02-08. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
24. "Five Of The World's Most Unlikely Whisky Producers". Whisky Distilled. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
25. Wilkinson, Isambard (2007-02-26). "Pakistan brewery produces Muslim world's first 20-year whisky". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
26. "Banned at home, Murree Brewery seizes Hollywood moment". The Express Tribune. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
27. Malik, Sonia (2010-12-31). "New Year's Eve: City too dry and too wet". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
28. "Daughter of Bruce Willis, Demi Moore arrested in NY". The Express Tribune. 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
29. "Murree Brewery soon to brew in India". The Express Tribune. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
30. Judgement Sheet in the Lahore High Court Lahore Judicial Department. sys.lhc.gov.pk. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2024
31. "|title=Notice|date=2016-09-05|" (PDF). 3 September 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-12.
32. "|title=Notice|date=2016-09-08|" (PDF). psx.com.pk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-01.

References

• Buncombe, Andrew (5 November 2009). "Still brewing in a dry land: Pakistan's only beer and whisky firm". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
• McCarthy, Rory (22 July 2000). "Islam and Black Label hit brewery". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
• Smith, Elliot Blair (5 July 2002). "Brewer must walk softly on obstacle-filled path". USA Today. Retrieved 7 December 2009.

External links

• Official website
• Peter's Rum Pages