The beer Pakistan banned is now heading to Europe and Japan
Murree Brewery ships to the UK and Portugal and targets Japan as it re-enters the global market
Dear Readers,
Murree Brewery has quietly made history. After nearly half a century under a strict export ban, Pakistan’s oldest alcoholic beverage maker has finally shipped its first batches of beer abroad. Two containers of beer rolled out this September toward the UK and Portugal, with Japan next in line.
This is a story of survival. In a country where alcohol is banned for most citizens and tightly regulated for minorities, Murree Brewery somehow stayed alive, expanded, and even pushed past the $100 million annual revenue mark for the first time.
Inside the brewery, as seen during our reporting trip to Rawalpindi, workers pack whiskey bottles by hand, high-speed European and Asian machines can produce a quarter-million beers a day, and the CEO sits beneath shelves lined with decades-old bottles, reflecting on a business that has outlived wars, bans, and political chaos.
Murree is now betting that beer exports will become a new lifeline. If successful, this could quietly redefine how Pakistan participates in global beverage markets while operating under some of the world’s toughest restrictions.
There is much more beneath the surface, from the 1977 alcohol ban to smuggling, moonshine risks, and the company’s fight to survive rising costs and a shrinking economy.
Best Regards,
Adnan Aamir