First drinks at Suntory Oceania's beverage facility in Qld

Production has started at Suntory’s +$400 million multi-beverage manufacturing facility in Queensland. This marks a significant milestone in the global drinks company’s growth strategy, with its new $3 billion partnership Suntory Oceania set to launch from mid-2025.

The 17-hectare site will be the new manufacturing and distribution hub for the company’s multi-beverage portfolio of over 40 brands.

The site has the capacity to hold over 50,000 pallets of product, with a high-speed glass line and two canning lines that have a filling speed of 180,000 cans per hour.

V Energy was the first product off the line. By mid-2025, the facility will also produce Suntory’s ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol brands, including 196, Canadian Club and Dry, and Jim Beam and Cola.

Suntory Beverage & Food Oceania CEO Darren Fullerton said he was proud to see Suntory’s first Australian facility built — the largest FMCG investment into the country in the last decade.

“The start of production at our world-class facility represents a pivotal moment for Suntory Oceania. We are excited about the growth this will unlock for Suntory in the region, and the opportunities we will be able to offer our people, our customers and our consumers,” Fullerton said.

“Full ownership of our supply chain will enable more capacity, more control and most importantly, more opportunity to innovate. With this new site we are well positioned to disrupt and ignite the category with our full multi-beverage offering.”

The facility is set up for sustainable manufacturing with a combination of renewable energy sources via 14 km of solar panels and a power purchase agreement with Queensland electricity provider CleanCo. This is combined with sustainable heating and cooling technology, and onsite waste management and water recycling facilities.

“Our Queensland operation will be entirely carbon neutral,” Fullerton said.

Mark Hill, Managing Director, Suntory Global Spirits Oceania, said the team is looking forward to the next phase of commissioning, enabling the manufacturing and distribution of Suntory’s alcohol portfolio.

“Our Queensland facility complements our global production footprint, which includes distilleries and bottling sites in North America, Europe and Japan, and will expand our capability and capacity to deliver for our customers like never before,” Hill said.

“This facility is central to Suntory Oceania, and we are thrilled to be harnessing the region’s great local talent, strong infrastructure and connectivity to power this next phase of growth.”

Suntory’s Queensland facility is set to officially open in mid-2025 in line with the commencement of alcohol production and the Suntory Oceania partnership.

Top image caption: Darren Fullerton (L) and Mark Hill.