# Fiji

Country page of DA Caps, a collection of beer bottle caps. Web page: https://dacaps.imcoll.info/country/fj/info

- Official name: Republic of Fiji
- Local name: Matanitu Tugalala o Viti
- Caps in the collection: 6 (https://dacaps.imcoll.info/country_caps/160)
- Brands: 5

## Beer in Fiji

Fiji had no alcohol before outsiders arrived: the traditional ceremonial drink was yaqona (kava), and alcohol came with explorers, traders and whalers from the early 19th century. Under the colonial permit system, which did not apply to Europeans, Fijians and Indians needed a permit to buy beer. On 22 November 1957 Governor Sir Ronald Garvey announced a change to the Liquor Ordinance to allow beer to all races. By 1958 the restrictions on beer for adult men of any race were gone, and the restriction on selling alcohol to women was repealed in 1969. Commercial brewing in Fiji only began in 1957.

The first brewery was Carlton Brewery Fiji Ltd in Walu Bay, Suva. The business was set up in August 1957 as a joint venture of Carlton and United Breweries of Melbourne and Carpenters Fiji, and was incorporated in November 1957. Fiji Bitter was first brewed in November 1958, after the official opening of the plant, and the first draught keg went on sale in January 1959. The beer came in 750 mL bottles and on draught; 375 mL stubbies, nicknamed 'Fiji Babies', followed in 1971, and in 1972 14% of the company was offered to the public. The company still brews on the same block at Foster Road.

The first challenger was the South Seas Brewery in Lautoka, built in 1972-73 by New Zealand brewers. It did not take the market from Fiji Bitter, and in 1977 the Walu Bay company bought it. Fiji Stout and Fiji Light were made for some years, and in 1995 Fiji Gold replaced them; it became the best-selling beer in the country. The company bought South Pacific Distilleries in 1998 and Samoa Breweries, maker of Vailima, in July 1999. In May 2005 it merged with the distillery as Fosters Group Pacific Ltd and listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange; Fiji Premium came in 2007. After SABMiller took over Foster's, the company was sold to Coca-Cola Amatil in September 2012 and renamed Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Ltd.

Amatil put about 45-50 million Fijian dollars into the plant, including a new automated brewhouse in Suva, announced in April 2015. The second challenger, Island Brewing Company, was founded near Nadi Airport in 2009 by the New Zealand brothers Jeremy and Jonathan Ullrich as the country's first microbrewery. Its Vonu Pure Lager found buyers in hotels and upmarket bars, and Paradise Beverages took the company over in March 2014 (the Fiji Sun says 2013). Fiji Gold Moli, a lemon version, followed in February 2019, and the Suva brewery was shut for several weeks from April 2020. In April 2021 Coca-Cola Europacific Partners took over Amatil and with it the parent company of Paradise Beverages.

Independent craft brewing is small. Kailoma Brewing Co., started by Gavin Statham and Simon Gelling at the Beachouse resort in Korolevu on the Coral Coast, sold its Mokusiga Pacific Lager from late 2017 and had a capacity of about 1,000 litres a week in 2018. REEF Brewing Co., owned by Liam Hindle, opened in January 2020 in Wailoaloa, Nadi, with draught-only Island Lager, Island Pale Ale and Midnight Reef. In January 2021 Hari Punja and Sons and Taula Beverages of Samoa announced a joint venture to build a brewery on a 6-acre site in Suva; no source found says it has opened. In March 2024 Fiji Gold became the official beer of the Fiji Rugby Union under a two-year deal, and a co-branded can followed in July 2024.

Sources:
- [Wikipedia: Beer in Fiji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Fiji)
- [Wikipedia: Paradise Beverages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Beverages)
- [Fiji Times: A toast to six decades (2017)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/?p=204784)
- [Fiji Times: Company marks 60 years (2017)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/company-marks-60-years/)
- [Fiji Times: When liquor was prohibited (2017)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/when-liquor-was-prohibited/)
- [The Shout: Suva Brewery unveils upgrade (2015)](https://theshout.com.au/suva-brewery-unveils-upgrade/)
- [Fiji Sun: Brewery Battle On! (2021)](https://fijisun.com.fj/news/business/brewery-battle-on)
- [Fiji Times: Company announces aquisition of shares (2021)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/?p=467623)
- [Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Limited: 2020 audited financial statements (2021)](https://announcements.spx.com.fj/ftp/news/021727870.PDF)
- [Fiji Times: Rise of craft beer in Fiji (2018)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/?p=227308)
- [Beer & Brewer: Killing time in Fiji's craft beer scene (2020)](https://www.beerandbrewer.com/killing-time-in-fijis-craft-beer-scene/)
- [Fiji Sun: Brewing REEF in Tropical Paradise (2020)](https://fijisun.com.fj/news/business/brewing-reef-in-tropical-paradise)
- [Fiji Sun: Hari Punja Group & Taula Beer To Set Up New Brewery In Suva (2021)](https://fijisun.com.fj/news/business/hari-punja-group-taula-beer-to-set-up-new-brewery-in-suva)
- [Fiji Times: Fiji Rugby scores Fiji Gold support (2024)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/?p=721167)
- [Fiji Times: Special edition can launched to celebrate rugby partnership (2024)](https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/?p=755190)
- [Archontology: Fiji, Polity Style 1875-2026](https://archontology.org/nations/fiji/01_polity.php)
- [Wikipedia: Flag of Fiji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Fiji)

## Breweries (3)

- [Carlton Brewery Fiji Ltd.](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/2247.md) — 1 cap, 1957–2005
- [Fosters Group Pacific](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/2249.md) — 4 caps, 2005–2012
- [Paradise Beverages Ltd.](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/3192.md) — 1 cap, 2012–