Global beverage giant, Suntory, has officially launched its combined Australia New Zealand business, Suntory Oceania, as it unveiled the $400 million Swanbank factory in Ipswich, Queensland. It was more than three years ago that then CEO of Frucor Suntory, Darren Fullerton, outlined the ambitious build and two years since Suntory Oceania was announced. With plans realised, there is now a $3 billion beverage behemoth in the arena, representing the fourth largest in the region with ambitious growth plans in the works.
The goal was to establish a production footprint in Australia, relieve pressure on its New Zealand operations, and fuel growth. Today the attainment of those goals was unveiled as well as the official launch of Suntory Oceania – the bringing together of Frucor Suntory and Beam Suntory under one moniker.
As local and dignitaries descended on the Swanbank facility (it has its own road), walking into the 30-metre-tall, automated storage retrieval system (ASRS) is like entering – as chief supply chain officer, Ian Roberts said – a 30-metre-tall cathedral.
It is just one component of the state-of-the-art, $400 million dollar build Suntory has invested in as it looks to tap into the growth potential of the Australian New Zealand market.
Suntory Beverage & Food Oceania CEO, Dai Minato, said, the investment was evidence of Suntory’s “immense confidence” in the growth potential of ANZ.
“At Suntory, our culture is shaped by our unique 'Yatte Minahare' spirit, which has encouraged us to dream big and make those dreams a reality for over a century. I’m excited by the ambition of our people, the strength of our brands, and the opportunity to shape new beverage experiences. This is just the beginning!”
Suntory Oceania is already a $3 billion multi-beverage business and the fourth largest such company in the region.
Swanbank gives the company end-to-end responsibility for a portfolio of 40 market-leading brands across premium spirits, RTD (ready-to-drink) alcohol beverages, juice, water, soft drinks, coffee, energy and sports drinks, including, including premium Japanese whiskies, Suntory -196 RTD, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Canadian Club, V Energy, Maximus and Suntory BOSS.
The build has been a massive undertaking. More than 2000 people have played a role in its creation since first announced in March 2022.
Suntory Global Spirits – Oceania managing director, Mark Hill, told Food & Drink Business, “We have achieved a huge amount in the last two years. I could choose any one component of the project, and it would be a major project transformation for any company.
“To be able to say we did all these things concurrently and as we expected is something we are very proud off. It has taken a superhuman effort by a lot of people and a lot of really really hard work.”
Minato told Food & Drink Business, “The scale, the people, the care for sustainability, and then a recruitment push for our commercial sales and supply chain network. Across two years we have recruited more than 400 people, so we look on this as a really new chapter. I think people are really pumped up.”
Swanbank capabilities
Roberts said, “Our carbon neutral smart facility – powered by a combination of solar, biomass and green energy – will give Suntory unrivalled ability to innovate, respond to customer demand, and deliver beverages that are made locally and sustainably.
“Led by our ‘Growing For Good’ philosophy, Suntory has taken every opportunity to use leading technology and set new standards for sustainable manufacturing in Australia.”
The new plant includes a high-speed glass line and two canning lines supplied by Krones, and a kegging system from KHS.
From three depallitisers, the system can send 90,000 cans to the fillers in an hour. It has the capacity to double that.
The glass line can accommodate five different bottle sizes and from depalletiser to being wrapped and sent to the ASRS takes around 25 minutes. A carton is packed every two seconds. Flexibility and automated changeover also had to be engineered into the lines that will ultimately fill and pack 60 different stock keeping units (SKUs).
The factory is carbon neutral and spans 17 hectares – around 17 rugby fields. It has:
- 7000 solar panels (14 kilometres end-to-end) that power the production of more than 20 million cases of beverages a year (ultimately growing to 50,000);
- A purchase power agreement with Queensland-based CleanCo;
- a biomass boiler that will use offcuts from the local sawmill as fuel to generate heat for the sites manufacturing heating requirements; and
- an organic Rankine cycle generator – a unique technology to capture waste heat and turn it into green energy to put back into the grid.
Suntory will launch its new multi-beverage business offering in the New Zealand market in January 2026, marking the next chapter in what is one of the most significant market plays in the global beverages industry in recent years.
Suntory Oceania covered Kim Berry's travel costs to attend the launch.
