The beverage sector’s Lion Brewery , is the market leader in the Sri Lankan beer industry. Its 546,000 hectolitre brewery is equipped with state-of-the-art brewing technology and was commissioned in 1997. The sector owns Sri Lanka's favourite beer "Lion" and also brews the internationally well-known Carlsberg under licence from Carlsberg International of Denmark.

In what would be an important future source of future competitiveness, the Lion Brewery signed a landmark joint venture agreement with Carlsberg International this year, to venture into India, to take advantage of the market opportunities arising from the growth in the Indian consumer market. Lion and Carlsberg together with other investors have undertaken the development of a greenfield brewery in Rajasthan, Northern India, and negotiations are underway in respect of several other projects that will cater to the Indian market. Lion will hold a 22.5% stake in the Indian JV company.

We also own a 20.2% stake in Ceylon Cold Stores, a company which owns one of Sri Lanka’s best known brands in the food & beverage business - Elephant House - which complements the Group’s presence in the beer industry.

Our flagship brand ‘Lion’ successfully entered several international markets, including Maldives where it commands a strong preseuce.

The two companies in our brewery sector are The Ceylon Brewery PLC and The Lion Brewery Limited, both of which are listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Ceylon Brewery PLC
Ceylon Brewery PLC operates as an investment holding company owning the Lion brand and holds a 51% stake of the Lion Brewery.

Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC
The Lion Brewery is the market leader in the soft alcohol industry in the island which brews and bottles beer its own brand Lion, and Carlsberg under license from Carlsberg International of Denmark.

The Lion brewery employs cutting edge German technology sourced from Krones & Steinecker. All the distributor points have been computerized to ease the information gathering process. Lion Brewery has obtained the ISO 22000 and HACCP certifications that ensures the food safety management and hygiene practices adopted by the company.