# Papua New Guinea

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

- Official name: Independent State of Papua New Guinea
- Local name: Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini
- Caps in the collection: 1 (https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country_caps/105)
- Brands: 1

## Beer in Papua New Guinea

For most of the colonial era Papua New Guineans could not legally buy beer. From 1884 to 1963 alcohol was prohibited in the territories of Papua (British New Guinea, annexed in 1888 and Australian from 1902) and New Guinea (German from 1884, occupied by Australia in 1914), a period covered by Mac Marshall's 1980 history of the liquor laws. When prohibition ended in 1963, drinking quickly became part of national life, not least because the Australian administrators were themselves not averse to a drink.

Brewing in the country began under prohibition. South Pacific Brewery started in 1951 by one account, and SP Lager went on public sale on 26 November 1952; the company's own site says the lager was launched in 1952, when the firm was founded. In those early years it also made Pepsi, Daisy milk and Nambawan juices. In 1958 Malayan Breweries, the joint venture of Heineken and Fraser & Neave that later became Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), bought it in an expansion abroad. SP Lager won a Monde Selection gold medal in 1967, and the brand went with the nation through the 1969 South Pacific Games it co-sponsored and the raising of the national flag in 1975.

SP Brewery now has two plants, at Port Moresby and Lae. Lae is the larger and supplies the north coast, the New Guinea Islands and the Highlands; Port Moresby serves the south. With about 450 staff it is the dominant brewer, selling SP Lager, South Pacific Export Lager, Niugini Ice, the economy lager Kundu, the fruit beer Chiller and Heineken 0.0. In 2006 APB owned most of it, with the two big superannuation funds, POSF and NASFUND, as minority holders; Heineken agreed in 2012 to buy Fraser & Neave's stake in APB, which was merged into Heineken Asia Pacific in 2013, so SP Brewery is now a Heineken company.

Legal competition has been almost absent. Vitis Industries, a Port Moresby maker of spirits and coffee set up in 2002 by Sergey and Vikki Mosin, began brewing at its 9 Mile factory in 2016 (the company itself says 2017). Its Mosin beers are batch brewed at about 5,000 litres a day and were described in 2016 as the country's second legal brewery; by 2019 it sold 12 beers, through two bottle shops in Port Moresby and one in Wau. Licensed beer also competes with cheap untaxed spirits and homebrew, called "steam", and the average Papua New Guinean drinks only about 5 litres of beer a year.

Rolling liquor bans have hurt trade: SP's sales fell about 37% in 2020, and in 2024 the brewery said excise makes up about 46% of the price of a carton. It opened a wastewater plant at Port Moresby in September 2023 and one at Lae in June 2024. In August 2025 it launched its "Born & Raised" campaign for the 50th anniversary of independence. In 2026 it finished upgrades at Lae with rooftop solar panels and more warehouse space.

Sources:
- [The National: Why alcohol ban fails to take off (2009)](https://www.thenational.com.pg/?p=152)
- [ANU Archives: Marshall, A history of prohibition and liquor legislation in Papua New Guinea (1980)](https://archivescollection.anu.edu.au/index.php/marshall-mac-history-of-prohibition-and-liquor-legislation-in-papua-new-guinea-boroko-papua-new-guinea-institute-of-applied-science-and-economic-research-1980)
- [Wikipedia: Territory of Papua and New Guinea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Papua_and_New_Guinea)
- [Business Advantage PNG: S P Brewery, a regional beer (2006)](https://businessadvantagepng.com/sp-brewery-a-regional-beer)
- [The National: Brewer marks 70 years of iconic brand (2022)](https://www.thenational.com.pg/?p=386901)
- [SP Brewery: SP Lager](https://www.sp.com.pg/about-sp-lager)
- [The National: Last cheer for Stan (2019)](https://www.thenational.com.pg/?p=265565)
- [Encyclopedia.com: Asia Pacific Breweries Limited](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/asia-pacific-breweries-limited)
- [SP Brewery: Our Company](https://www.sp.com.pg/our-company)
- [Business Advantage PNG: SP Brewery toasts a brighter outlook in Papua New Guinea (2023)](https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/?p=27643)
- [Wikipedia: Heineken Asia Pacific](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heineken_Asia_Pacific)
- [Business Advantage PNG: More choice for Papua New Guinea beer drinkers as Vitis starts brewery (2016)](https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/choice-papua-new-guinea-beer-drinkers-vitis-starts-brewery)
- [Business Advantage PNG: Making the most of Papua New Guinea-grown produce (2019)](https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/making-the-most-of-papua-new-guinea-grown-produce/)
- [Business Advantage PNG: SP Brewery planning for growth after liquor bans (2022)](https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/sp-brewery-planning-for-growth-after-papua-new-guineas-liquor-bans/)
- [Business Advantage PNG: Targeting net zero, SP Brewery prepares for growth in tough market (2024)](https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/?p=29145)
- [The National: Brewery opens water treatment plant (2024)](https://thenational.com.pg/brewery-opens-water-treatment-plant)
- [NBC PNG: SP Brewery launches Born & Raised campaign (2025)](https://www.nbc.com.pg/post/25497/sp-brewery-launches-born-raised-campaign-to-celebrate-pngs-50th-independence-anniversary)
- [Business Advantage PNG: Iconic brewer looking to make a social impact in Papua New Guinea (2026)](https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/iconic-brewer-looking-to-make-a-social-impact-in-papua-new-guinea/)
- [BeerAdvocate: South Pacific Brewery LTD](https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19603/)
- [Archontology: Papua New Guinea, Polity Style 1975-2026](https://archontology.org/nations/papua_new_guinea/01_polity.php)

## Breweries (1)

- [South Pacific Brewery](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1843.md) — 1 cap, 1952–