Cyberattack hangover – Asahi back to fax and phone as rivals seize taps

Asahi is taking orders by phone and fax after a ransomware attack crippled its systems. Rivals Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo are gaining market share as Japan enters its peak year-end drinking season.

Just as Japan is heading toward peak drinking season with its Bonenkai (end-of-year) parties, the Asahi Group’s internal systems remain crippled after a heavy ransomware attack on September 29th, claimed by the Russian-linked group Qilin.

More than a month later, the system is still not fully restored. In fact, with orders running at only 10% of normal capacity, staff have been forced to take orders manually. That means in person, over the phone, and even by fax machine.

This isn’t an isolated incident, as the office supplier Askul’s ransomware mess rippled into major retailers, freezing e-commerce and leaking data, serving as a reminder that supply chains are soft targets.

Competitors then pounced, as distributors Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo hustled into the gaps that Asahi has left with new taps, fridges, and glassware.

Analysts have warned that a prolonged outage could harm Asahi’s quarter, as a market-share shift could be on the horizon. In fact, Kirin overtook Asahi in retail beer sales after the October 6th attack, powered by its Ichiban Shibori brand.

Convenience stores like 7-Eleven and FamilyMart are still able to sell a limited supply of Asahi cans, but stock is limited and often sells out very quickly. Running out of beer in Japan is quite simply a cultural and commercial catastrophe.

A Japanese fan enjoying beer at the world cup. — Image via Getty

Financial fallout could be looming for Asahi

Bernstein slashed its Q4 forecast for Asahi to a ¥15 billion loss, citing marketing costs to rebuild trust and regain accounts, and predicted the brewer could miss its full-year target by 13%.

Asahi has postponed its Q3 earnings report indefinitely, stating that it still can’t access or settle some financial data due to the ongoing IT disruption.

The company’s patchwork IT system, stitched together from years of acquisitions, was being merged into a unified platform just as attackers struck, making it extremely difficult to rectify and fix.

Despite everything, loyalists like Kohei Matsuo, the owner of Bier Reise ’98, an old-school bar in Shinbashi, Tokyo, refuse to abandon ship.

“I’ve been pouring Asahi for decades, I believe it will rise again like a phoenix,” he told Bloomberg.

Asahi’s recovery will depend not only on restoring its systems but also on winning back lost taps and customer trust, showing how quickly market momentum can shift in Japan’s competitive beer scene.