Kirin Company

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
Native name
キリンホールディングス株式会社
Kirin Hōrudingusu kabushiki gaisha
FormerlyJapan Brewery Company, Limited
Company typePublic KK
IndustryBeverage
PredecessorSpring Valley Brewery Company
Founded1888 (1888)
FounderWilliam Copeland
Thomas Blake Glover
Headquarters,
Japan
Key people
Hideki Horiguchi (President and CEO)
ServicesStrategic management and oversight of the domestic beverage business.
Number of employees
30,464 (consolidated)
Websitewww.kirinholdings.co.jp Edit this at Wikidata
A can of Kirin Ichiban

The Kirin Holdings Company, Limited. (キリンホールディングス株式会社) is a Japanese beer and beverage holding company. It is known for brands such as Kirin Beer, Kirin Lemon, Mets, and Gogo no Kōcha.

The predecessor of the company, the Japan Brewery Company, was founded in Yokohama in 1885 by William Henry Talbot and Edgar Abbott. In 1888, they launched Kirin Beer. In 1907, the business of JBC[further explanation needed] was inherited[by whom?], and Kirin Brewery Company was established. In 2007, it became Kirin Holdings Company, a holding company, with Kirin Beer Company, Kirin Beverage Company, and Mercian Corporation as its main subsidiaries.