No.9778   April 23. 2007

The PREMIUM MALTS Wins Grand Gold Medal
at the Monde Selection for Third Year Running

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Following its 2005 and 2006 Grand Gold Medal wins, Suntory’s the PREMIUM MALTS was honored yet again in a beer category* at the 46th Annual Monde Selection, an international food and beverage competition held in Brussels, Belgium, the birthplace of beer. This award marks the third consecutive gold medal or higher finish for this beer, a winning streak that earned the PREMIUM MALTS its first International High-Quality Trophy.

The PREMIUM MALTS was the winner of Japan’s first Grand Gold Medal for beer in June 2005, and Suntory is extremely proud of the fact that it was honored again in both 2006 and 2007 with this prestigious award. Highly praised for the outstanding brewing techniques used to make it and its superlative quality, the PREMIUM MALTS sales increased 4.4-fold in 2006 over the previous year, reaching 5.5 million cases, and it continues to win more fans, with a 2.6-fold increase in 2007 for January-March sales over the same period in the previous year.

* Beer Category Group I is the designation for aromatized beers, the standard type of beer most popular among Japanese beer drinkers.

About the Monde Selection
Founded in 1961, the internationally recognized Monde Selection aims to discover and honor excellence in food and beverages around the world. As the oldest such organization in the world, the Monde Selection is the ultimate competition in the field of quality selection.

Characteristics of the PREMIUM MALTS
Carefully selected ingredients (only hand-selected malt, European fine-aroma hops and pure natural water are used) and the most demanding of brewing techniques deliver the special characteristics that set this premium beer apart – an “elegant aroma, deep body and rich umami.”