founded osaka japan 1899 ; 117 years ago 1899 founder torii shinjiro headquarters osaka japan key people nobutada saji subsidiaries beam inc. website suntory.com suntory holdings limited santor h rudingusu kabushiki gaisha is a japanese brewing and distilling company group . established in 1899 it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in japan and makes japanese whisky . its business has expanded to other fields and the company now also makes soft drinks and operates sandwich chains . with its 2014 acquisition of beam inc. it has diversified internationally and become one of the largest makers of distilled beverages in the world . suntory is headquartered in dojimahama 2 chome kita ku osaka osaka prefecture . contents 1 history 2 holdings 3 joint ventures 4 media and advertising 5 products 5.1 alcoholic drinks 5.2 soft drinks 5.3 food for specified health uses foshu 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit suntory headquarters osaka japan suntory was started by torii shinjiro who first opened his store torii shoten in osaka on february 1 1899 to sell imported wines . in 1907 the store began selling a sweet tasting red wine called akadama port wine . the store became the kotobukiya company in 1921 to further expand its business and in 1923 torii shinjiro built japan s first malt whisky distillery yamazaki distillery . production began in december 1924 and five years later suntory whisky shirofuda white label the first single malt whisky made in japan was sold . due to shortages during world war ii kotobukiya was forced to halt its development of new products but in 1946 it re released torys whisky which sold well in post war japan . in 1961 kotobukiya launched the drink torys and go to hawaii campaign . at the time a trip abroad was considered a once in a lifetime opportunity . in 1963 kotobukiya changed its name to suntory taken from the name of the whisky it produces . in the same year musashino beer factory began its production of the suntory beer . in 1997 the company became japan s sole bottler distributor and licensee of pepsi products . on april 1 2009 suntory became a stockholding company named suntory holdings limited and established suntory beverage and food limited suntory products limited suntory wellness limited suntory liquors limited suntory beer & spirits limited & suntory wine international limited and suntory business expert limited . 1 on july 14 2009 kirin announced that it was negotiating with suntory on a merger . 2 on february 8 2010 it was announced that negotiations between the two were terminated . 3 in 2009 they acquired orangina the orange soft drink for 300 billion yen and frucor energy drinks for 600 million euros . 4 on 2 july 2013 the company debuted on the tokyo stock exchange and raised almost us 4 billion in the process . 5 in january 2014 suntory announced an agreement to buy the largest u.s. bourbon producer beam inc. for us 16 billion . 6 this deal would make suntory the world s third largest spirits maker . 7 the acquisition was completed on april 30 2014 when it was also announced that beam would be renamed as beam suntory . 8 9 also in january 2014 suntory purchased the drinks division of british glaxosmithkline . this included the brands lucozade and ribena however the deal did not include horlicks . 10 holdings edit suntory malt s beer beam suntory cerebos pacific ltd ch teau lagrange s.a.s florigene pty ltd frucor beverages limited gold knoll ltd grupo restaurante suntory mexico louis royer s.a.s morrison bowmore distillers limited oranginaschweppes group 11 pepsi bottling ventures llc subway japan tipco f & b co. ltd joint ventures edit a suntory kaku bin whisky bottle and glass display at a yamaya liquor store in iizaka japan from the early 1990s suntory has collaborated extensively with melbourne biotechnology firm florigene to genetically engineer the world s first true blue rose a symbol often associated with the impossible or unattainable . in 1991 the team won the intense global race to isolate the gene responsible for blue flowers and has since developed a range of genetically modified flowers expressing colors in the blue spectrum as well as a number of other breakthroughs extending the vase life of cut flowers . in 2003 suntory acquired a 98.5 % equity holding in florigene . prior to this florigene had been a subsidiary of global agrochemicals giant nufarm limited since 1999 . in july 2004 suntory and florigene scientists announced to the world the development of the first roses containing blue pigment an important step toward the creation of a truly blue colored rose . in july 2011 suntory beverage and food limited together with pt garudafood from mnc group in indonesia have agreed to make a new firm to produce non alcoholic drink with 51 percent and 49 percent shares respectively . it will produce suntory ooolong tea boss and orangina . 12 media and advertising edit advertising poster of akadama port wine the first nude advertising poster in japan . published in 1922 taisho 11 . directed by toshiro kataoka featuring emiko matsushima suntory and its various products are featured in the ry ga gotoku yakuza series of games . suntory was one of the first asian companies to specifically employ american celebrities to market their product . citation needed one of the most notable is sammy davis jr. who appeared in a series of suntory commercials in the early 1970s . in the late 1970s akira kurosawa directed a series of commercials featuring american celebrities on the set of his film kagemusha . one of these featured francis ford coppola an executive producer of the film which later inspired his daughter sofia coppola in her writing of lost in translation a film which focuses on an american actor filming a suntory commercial in tokyo . a reuters photo by toshiyuki aizawa from july 2003 showed suntory s marketing strategy of tv helmets . in this scheme advertising company employees clad in orange jumpsuits wear television cameras that broadcast wide screen digital feeds of the brewing company s commercial on top of their helmets . suntory operates two museums the suntory museum of art in tokyo and the suntory museum tempozan in osaka in addition to a number of cultural and social programs across japan . suntory produced several drinks under the name final fantasy potion named for the weakest and most common healing item in the game . each was released in japan only for a limited time to promote the release of the square enix game final fantasy xii the 10th anniversary of final fantasy vii and the release of dissidia final fantasy which comes in two varieties . all the drinks are different despite sharing the name . for the release of final fantasy xiii the potion name was abandoned and replaced with elixir an item which typically heals one party member fully and restores all mp . suntory owns a top japanese rugby club called the suntory sungoliath . in the 1970s suntory engaged the us pop group the carpenters to advertise its new line of soft drinks . suntory is a former sponsor of the professional match play golf tournament played annually at wentworth club near london . suntory kakubin is featured in an episode of the 2006 anime series bartender entitled menu of the heart . in the 2000s to advertise its the premium malt s beer there has been a series of television ads featuring eikichi yazawa and various versions of the title song of shall we dance . disambiguation needed products edit malt s beer served at suntory s kyoto brewery kyoto alcoholic drinks edit beers malt s suntory brandy centenario courvoisier fundador gin gilbey s larios rum cruzan ronrico tequila 100 a os el tesoro hornitos sauza sauza tres generaciones vodka effen kamchatka pinnacle vox whisky american whiskey blended whiskey beam s eight star kessler kentucky bourbon jim beam the top selling brand of kentucky bourbon jim beam small batch brands baker s basil hayden s booker s knob creek maker s mark old crow old grand dad rye whiskey jim beam rye knob creek rye old overholt ri 1 canadian whisky alberta premium canadian club tangle ridge windsor irish whiskey 2 gingers connemara grenore kilbeggan tyrconnell japanese whisky hakushu hibiki torys suntory yamazaki scotch whisky ardmore auchentoshan bowmore glen garioch laphroaig mcclelland s teacher s spanish whisky dyc cocktails and liqueurs calico jack flavored rum midori melon liqueur rubis strawberry liqueur lena banana liqueur mohala mango liqueur blue curacao skinnygirl pre mixed margarita aki discontinued in 1988 pavan soft drinks edit bikkle boss coffee c.c. lemon iced oolong tea iemon a brand of green tea drink mizone natchan orangina dakara lucozade ribena food for specified health uses foshu edit the following drinks were approved as food for specified health uses foshu . 13 14 15 black oolong tea calcium and iron beverage sesame barley tea see also edit osaka portal suntory sungoliath rugby team champions of the 2007 08 top league fifth season suntory mermaid ii wave powered catamaran references edit suntory news release on january 19 2009 global website japan website suntory limited mainichi shimbun retrieved on july 13 2009 termination of merger negotiation with kirin suntory news release retrieved on february 8 2010 suntory buys frucor from groupe danone october 2008 . danone . 23 october 2008 . retrieved 16 january 2009 . suntory ipo suntory news release on january 13th 2014 global website martinne geller and olivia oran 14 january 2014 . japan s suntory to buy u.s. spirits maker beam for 13.6 billion cash . reuters . beam suntory suntory press release april 30 2014 . suntory still has m & a thirst the wall street journal may 15 2014 . angela monaghan ribena and lucozade sold to japanese drinks giant the guardian 9 september 2013 japan s suntory snaps up orangina . bbc news . bbc . 2009 11 13 . retrieved 2009 11 15 . garudafood suntory form joint venture . the jakarta post . 2011 07 16 . retrieved 2012 10 14 . food for specified health uses foshu ministry of health labour and welfare retrieved on may 1 2010 beverages health beverages suntory retrieved on may 1 2010 soft drink product information japanese suntory retrieved on may 1 2010 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to suntory . official website florigene corporate site yahoo suntory group company profile yahoo suntory limited company profile v t e suntory holdings limited subsidiaries ch teau lagrange s.a.s 1983 florigene pty ltd 2003 frucor beverages limited 2008 gold knoll ltd louis royer s.a.s morrison bowmore distillers limited 1994 first kitchen pepper lunch2 beam suntory 2014 spirits & wine hakushu hibiki yamazaki auchentoshan bowmore glen garioch mcclelland s single malt midori akadama soft drinks bikkle boss coffee c.c. lemon calcium and iron beverage dakara mizone natchan iced oolong tea orangina1 lucozade ribena v pepsi special beam suntory whiskey jim beam maker s mark old grand dad old crow basil hayden s booker s knob creek kessler beam s eight star laphroaig ardmore teacher s highland cream the tyrconnell connemara greenore kilbeggan alberta premium canadian club dyc whisky other spirits sauza hornitos de sauza el tesoro de don felipe courvoisier vox gilbey s pinnacle cruzan gilbey s kamora after shock leroux castellana sourz harvey s bristol cream other nobutada saji yuka sait suntory sungoliath suntory sunbirds suntory hall suntory open suntory ladies open suntory music award suntory mermaid ii suntory museum of art 1 in north america the brand is owned by dr pepper snapple group . 2 international operations . category authority control worldcat identities viaf 257372483 ndl 01156953 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title suntory & oldid 739599398 categories suntoryholding companies established in 1899companies based in osakajapanese brands1899 establishments in japanholding companies