Brewery: Chang (Thai Beverage)

Origin: Ayutthaya, Thailand

Thailand is an incredibly vibrant country known for its distinctive beloved flavors that have popularised its cuisine around the world. 

Yet, when it comes to beer, that's a whole other story. Let's get into it!

Thailand's Relationship With Beer

Thailand has a tricky relationship with beer - like everyone, locals love drinking it, and yet as a country rooted in the Buddhist faith, the promotion of drinking can sometimes step on the toes of the more conservative.

You'll notice that despite the Big Three - Singha, Leo and Chang, being widely popular and available in Thailand, you'd be hardpressed to find beer ads as you do anywhere else in the world, especially with major national brands. That's because alcohol advertisements are banned in Thailand, in fact when Thai Beverage, the company behind Chang Beer, wanted to fundraise and list their shares on the Thai Stock Exchange, they were told to do it elsewhere. Hence you'll find them on the neighbouring Singapore Exchange instead. 

| Read: We Try Thailand's Three Most Popular Beers With Local Friends!

Other laws such as high taxes and high production requirements are set in stone by the law that disallows small time craft alcohol brewers and distillers from stepping in. It's also why the craft beer scene in Thailand is relatively small. Most craft beer brands have found it easier to brew their beers elsewhere, such as Cambodia, and then have it imported into the country instead.

This set the landscape for a six decade long dominance by Singha, the first local Thai brewery, which established itself in 1933, and known as the Boon Rawd Brewery. However, things all changed in 1995, when Chang stepped in. 

The Story of Chang Beer

Chang's Everton Football Club sponsorship propelled the Asian beer to immediate global awareness. (Image Source: The Sun)

For decades, Singha had a dominant grip on the Thai market, but in 1995, a new competitor emerged - Chang.

The name "Chang" comes from the Thai word for "Elephant", an animal that is held sacred and with great respect in Thailand. As you can see on the can, its logo is that of two elephants facing one another across a fountain. I suppose the two elephants are friends given the brand's tagline "We Brew Friendship".

The Chang brand came as a result of Thai Beverage's founder, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's desire to tap into the lucrative Thai beer market, having seen Singha's success. He was already at the time running other alcoholic ventures in Thailand and with his industry experience and having partnered Carlsberg, he was ready to launch the Chang brand in 1995, brewed in the Ayutthaya region of Thailand, located some two hours away from Bangkok.

Ayutthaya is an ancient and historic area in Thailand, sitting some 2 hours away from Bangkok. (Image Source: Bucketlistly Blog)

Charoen's rise to the top was a testament to his shrewd business acumen, pulling off many aggressive bets that allowed him to grow Thai Beverage into a behemoth. At one point in the late 1980s, Thai Beverage's royalties payment to the country's excise department would account for 5% of the entire country's national budget. 

When it came to Chang, his acumen proved astute. He focused on producing a beer that was not only cheaper but also featuring the highest alcoholic content at the time. He topped it off with huge marketing campaigns, the flashiest of which was Chang's sponsorship of the Everton Football Club in the massively popular English Premier League. This was a lethal combination and quickly rocketed Chang to huge success, quickly snatching 60% of the local beer market by 2000, eclipsing even Singha.

Several events transpired during Chang's history, namely Carlsberg pulling out of a joint venture with Thai Beverage, and Singha's response to Chang with their more affordable Leo brand, as well as a consolidation of all Chang variants into a single Chang Classic label. Today, Chang vies for the top position with Singha, with various polls reporting Chang as either largest or second-largest.

Chang had used to keep their local Chang Classic beers at 6.4% ABV, adding rice to the mix in their ingredients alongside barley malt, and previously had variations such as Export, Draught and Light. Today all of that has been consolidated into a single Chang Classic that is kept at 5% ABV. At one point there were rumors that you could find Chang beers up to 10% ABV and even inspired the term "Chang-over" given the alcoholic kick.

| Read: [Reviewed] Chang Classic Lager Beer, Thai Beverage, 5% ABV

This has altogether created a beer that nicely sits in the middle and fills the gap between Singha and Leo in terms of flavor intensity and creaminess of texture - Chang is crisp, moderately hefty and well-balanced between sweet and bitter notes, making it an enticingly refreshing beer.

Chang's globally focused marketing has also helped to entrench the brand as the international favorite when it comes to Thailand's Big Three.

And that is the story of how Chang, an upstart, shook up Thailand's beer scene in a classic David versus Goliath story.

As they say in Thailand,

Chon Gâew! ("Bump Glasses", pronounced as Ch-own Kale!)

@111hotpot