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Asahi Beer USA has installed a new high-speed bottling line at its Octopi beverage production facility in Waunakee, Wisconsin, expanding its domestic packaging capabilities as demand for bottled beer continues alongside growth in cans and other formats.

The new system can produce up to 20,000 bottles per hour and was installed as part of a nearly 90-container equipment build-out. The investment forms part of Asahi Beer USA's broader $35 million program to expand its US production capabilities.

The company said the decision to invest in bottling reflects continued demand for bottled formats among super-premium, international and multi-format beverage brands, despite the wider industry shift toward cans.

Paul Verdu, managing director of Asahi Beer USA, said: “Asahi Super Dry is one of the fastest-growing beer brands in the USA across bottles, cans and kegs. “By investing in a high-speed bottling line alongside our existing canning and kegging capabilities, we are now localising supply across all core pack formats, reducing reliance on ocean freight and ensuring the freshest product possible to our customers and consumers.”

The line will initially be used to produce Asahi Super Dry in 12oz (355ml) six-pack bottles and 21oz (620ml) 12-pack bottles, with products from the new line expected to reach the market from mid-September 2026. The system can accommodate additional bottle sizes and packaging configurations as demand develops.

The installation is designed not only to increase Asahi's own domestic production but also to broaden Octopi's capabilities as a co-manufacturing and co-packing partner.

A Krones Varioline packer forms a central component of the system, allowing multiple packaging configurations, including multipacks, trays and wraparound formats, to be produced on a single platform. Asahi said this flexibility will help Octopi respond to increasingly varied requirements across grocery, club and convenience retail channels.

Juan Morales, plant director at Octopi, said: “This is about building a platform that can handle complexity. As brands grow, they need to deliver different formats across different retail channels. This investment allows us to support that evolution with the speed, consistency and quality required for large-scale distribution.”

Octopi already produces across a broad range of beverage categories, including beer, ready-to-drink cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, hard seltzers, functional drinks and energy beverages. The company said demand is also increasing for non-alcoholic and functional products.

The addition of high-speed bottling gives the facility another format with which to support beverage brands moving from pilot production toward wider distribution, while enabling customers to manufacture bottled and canned products within the same facility.

“As brands grow, they are increasingly looking for production partners that can support multiple formats within a single facility,” Verdu said. “This investment allows us to support both bottled and canned products at scale, while opening the door to new co-manufacturing partnerships that require that level of flexibility.”

The Octopi facility is SQF-certified and designed to meet the compliance requirements of major national retailers.