The Asahi group, Japan’s biggest brewery, is reportedly just days away from running out of its most popular beer, as it struggles to recover from a cyber-attack that caused a system outage.
The ransomware attack, reported on Monday, forced the company to halt production at most of its 30 factories nationwide, including those producing it signature mass-market lager Asahi Super Dry.
The firm, which also produces Nikka whisky and a range of alcoholic and soft drinks, has not said when it might be able to resume production, triggering alarm among wholesalers and retailers.
The closure of Asahi’s domestic breweries means it could exhaust its inventory of Super Dry in two or three days, the Financial Times claimed in a report on Thursday.
As the crisis entered its fifth day, supermarkets and other retailers were bracing for empty shelves, while izakaya pubs serving draught and bottled Super Dry could be forced to switch suppliers or see their customers go without their regular beer.
“No immediate recovery of our system is in sight at the moment,” a spokesperson, who declined to be named, told Agence France-Presse on Friday. “Ordinary shipments remain halted. Production is not directly affected [by the system dysfunction] but it has been halted because shipments are suspended.”
Super Dry is a staple of Japan’s drinking culture, with 73m cases sold last year, amid a decline in domestic beer consumption and intense competition between Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory to launch new products aimed at younger drinkers.
The news is a particular concern for Japan’s convenience stores. A spokesperson for Seven + I Holdings, which operates 7-11, said it would put up notices informing customers of the suspension in shipments, but added that the incident “had not yet caused major disruptions”.
“We don’t expect [Asahi drinks] to disappear from all our stores at once, although it all depends on how sales will go at each of these outlets.”
The hackers disabled Asahi’s ordering and delivery system, forcing the firm to postpone indefinitely the release later this month of a dozen new products, including soda and protein bars, media reports said.
The company, which has reported the incident to the Tokyo metropolitan police departments, said no customer data had been compromised in the attack. Its overseas operations have not been affected.
The disruption means Asahi is unable to process or deliver orders of food and drink, while its customer service desks have been suspended, the Kyodo news agency said. It is no longer able to receive emails from outside the company, forcing employees to take order over the phone and process them manually, Kyodo added.
The Guardian has contacted the Asahi group for comment.
