Can Lion be a brewing behemoth and a winner in craft beer?

Simon Evans

Updated May 2, 2016 – 9.58pm, first published at 4.59pm

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Japanese-owned drinks and dairy group Lion now has a six pack of stand-alone craft breweries in its stable as it pursues the 20 per cent-plus growth rates in that segment, while mainstream beers lose its fizz.

But can a corporate giant have street credibility as a craft brewer, and is there a danger a large corporate bureaucracy might constrict the entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit which led to its establishment in the first place?