Murree Brewery, Pakistan’s oldest and largest producer of alcoholic drinks, is increasingly turning to non-alcoholic beverages as government controls and a limited domestic market weigh on its liquor business.
Alcohol consumption has been prohibited for Muslims in Pakistan, who make up the vast majority of the country’s 241 million people, since 1977 and is a criminal offence.
However, Pakistan’s nine million non-Muslims are permitted to drink under strict licensing rules and with a quota system that restricts purchasing to six bottles per month.
With limited imports, this consumer niche has sustained Murree over decades, in addition to their export beer business to non-Muslim countries like Russia and the Czech Republic.
Pakistan’s beer market has unique challenges, however: the government sets alcohol prices, restricts outlets and bans advertising, in addition to leveraging significant taxes (Murree paid 35 million USD in 2024).
“Even I tell my staff of about 2,200 that we cannot sit on our laurels by selling alcohol,” chairman Isphanyar Bandhara recent shared in comments to the Associated Press.
“It’s a restricted market, so we have to rely and focus more on the non-alcoholic side. That’s where I think I would like to flex my muscles and take credit, rather than being a liquor baron.”
Murree already makes energy drinks, juices and malted beverages and is reporting double digit growth in non-alcoholic product sales annually, though its products compete with global giants like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola who have a strong footprint in Pakistan.
Some of Murree’s non-alcoholic products include BiGG Pineapple, a carbonated fruit juice, and Malt 79, a carbonated malt beverage.
“It’s a rewarding market. There might be less money (in non-alcoholic drinks), but it’s more secure,” Mr Bandhara shared.
One of the other motivating factors to diversify is the the emergence of competition, with the launch of Hui Coastal Brewery and Distillery, a Chinese-run venture in Balochistan in 2021.
Asia Brewers Network covered the launch of Pakistan’s newest brewery, which claimed to cater to thousands of Chinese workers in the country’s restive southwest (which is now facing a growing separatist insurgency) and sparked outrage given that brewing and distilling licenses are exceptionally rarely issued.
Previously operational Pakistani breweries include Quetta and Indus (previously known as Beach Brewery), though it is now a challenge to find any information about whether either company brews beer online, given advertising restrictions and a ban on booze in e-commerce.
Murree, which was founded in 1860 by British officers and civilians while Pakistan was under colonial rule, offers a range of beers including their eponymous Murree Beer, Millennium Beer, Wheat Beer and Amber Lager.
Despite the strict rules around alcohol consumption in Pakistan, it is widely reported that enforcement is uneven. Some hotels serve it off-menu, restaurants allow bottles under the table, and wine shops run by non-Muslims deliver to cars or homes.
For now, Murree is doubling down on its non-alcoholic arm — malt drinks packaged to resemble its beers, as well as juices and energy drinks. The strategy reflects both necessity and opportunity: in a country where alcohol is politically fraught, sodas and juices command billions in annual sales.
