NEW BREW COMING TO VAN NUYS : ANHEUSER-BUSCH PLANT WILL MAKE KIRIN BEER.

Byline: Dawn Yoshitake Daily News Staff Writer

Anheuser-Busch Inc. and a Japanese brewing company Wednesday announced an agreement to produce Kirin beer at Anheuser's Van Nuys plant - marking a first for the world's largest brewer in producing a foreign brand for sale in the United States.

The agreement is designed to boost Anheuser-Busch's share in the nation's ``import'' beer market and increase Kirin's flow of sales in the United States and reduce its distribution costs.

Under the agreement, Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis and Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd. of Tokyo will form a joint venture to produce Kirin's Ichiban Shibori, Lager and Light beer brands for distribution in the United States.

Kirin Brewery of America LLC will be based in Los Angeles with 28 employees.

Anheuser-Busch will hold a 10 percent interest in the $10 million venture, Kirin a 90 percent stake. The venture will begin early next year when the plant undergoes partial remodeling to accommodate Kirin's production process.

The move will serve a changing market, according to Patrick Stokes, president of Anheuser-Busch Inc.

``Import beers represented 2 to 3 percent of the U.S. market 25 years ago. Today, imports represent 6 percent of the industry, or 12 million barrels,'' Stokes said.

``We can't afford to ignore this segment of the market if we're to grow in the U.S.''

Anheuser-Busch currently produces 12 million barrels of beer for sale in the United States, of which Kirin will represent 100,000 barrels, Stokes said. Worldwide, Anheuser-Busch last year sold 87.5 million barrels.

The agreement marks the latest deal between the two companies.

Anheuser-Busch and Kirin in 1993 entered into a marketing and distribution agreement to distribute Budweiser in Japan. And in the following year, Anheuser-Busch began producing Kirin Ice Beer in its Los Angeles plant for distribution in Japan.

Kirin this year expects to sell 1.6 million cases of beer in the United States, and 2 million cases next year.

Molson Breweries in Canada currently serves as Kirin's North American producer and distributor, but the agreement will expire in March.

``We made $14 billion in sales last year, but less than 1 percent came from the United States,'' said Naomichi Asano, chief operating officer for Kirin International. ``This is a start, and we'd like to further establish a position in this market with the joint venture.''