Asahi Group, the producer of Asahi Super Dry lager, is still reeling from a cyberattack that started on 29 September with "no immediate recovery of [its] systems in sight", according to a statement from a company spokesperson.
According to The Guardian, which in turn cites Agence France-Presse, production at the company's 30 factories hasn't been disrupted, but it's unable to distribute the stocks it has.
This has left bars, supermarkets, and convenience stores in danger of running out of the country's most popular lager; according to the Financial Times, draught taps could run dry as soon as Saturday.
An unnamed executive at a major Japanese retailer told the FT: "When it comes to Super Dry, I think we'll run out in two or three days at supermarkets and Asahi's food products within a week or so."
A chef at a restaurant that only serves Asahi beer, meanwhile, told Reuters: "It's a bit of a problem. We specialize in yakitori (skewered chicken), and it pairs really well with Super Dry. A lot of customers say that, so I'm a little worried (about the shortage)."
The FT also reported that the company is staging a small-scale trial of using paper-based systems to process orders and deliveries in the hope this may prove a temporary solution until systems are up and running again.
What happened in the Asahi cyber attack?
Based in Tokyo, Asahi is one of the biggest drinks producers in Japan, and its beverages – particularly Super Dry – are popular worldwide, with a 37% market share in Japan, 48.5% market share in Australia, and 44% market share in the Czech Republic.
On Monday, 29 September, the company issued a statement saying it was "currently experiencing a system failure caused by a cyberattack, affecting operations in Japan".
While the company said it had found no evidence of a leakage of either personal information or customer data, order and shipment operations in Japan and call center operation were all suspended.
Operations outside of Japan have been unaffected.
In a call on Friday, the company confirmed it had suffered a ransomware attack on its servers, according to Reuters, adding that it hoped to bring its call centers back online "next week".
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