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Founded by Shinjirō Torii on Feb 1899, in Utsubohonmachi.1
Suntory was founded by Shinjirō Torii, who first opened his store, Torii Shōten (lit. "Torii store"), in Osaka on February 1, 1899, to sell imported wines. In 1907, the shop began selling a fortified wine called Akadama port wine (Akadama literally meaning "red ball", a byname for the sun). The store became the Kotobukiya company in 1921 to further expand its business and in 1923, Torii built Japan's first malt whisky distillery Yamazaki Distillery.
Although shortages during World War II forced Kotobukiya to halt new product development, the company successfully re-released Torys Whisky in 1946, which sold well in post-war Japan. In 1961, Kotobukiya launched the "Drink Torys and Go to Hawaii" campaign. At the time, a trip abroad was considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In 1963, Kotobukiya changed its name to "Suntory", taken from the name of the whisky it produces, which itself was derived from the English "sun" (referencing Akadama) + Tory, the anglicized version of Torii's name. In the late 2000s, Suntory was widely reported to have revived domestic demand for blended whisky by promoting the whisky highball as an everyday, meal-compatible drink, supported by standardized "highball" dispensing practices and dedicated on-premise promotion.
On April 1, 2009, Suntory transitioned into a stockholding company named Suntory Holdings Limited, establishing several new entities: Suntory Beverage and Food Limited, Suntory Products Limited, Suntory Wellness Limited, Suntory Liquors Limited, Suntory Beer & Spirits Limited, Suntory Wine International Limited, and Suntory Business Expert Limited.
On July 14, 2009, Kirin announced merger negotiations with Suntory; however, the two companies terminated these discussions on February 8, 2010.
That same year, Suntory acquired Orangina-Schweppes, owner of the Orangina soft drink, for 300 billion yen, and Frucor energy drinks for 600 million euros.
On July 2, 2013, the company's beverage and food division debuted on the Tokyo stock exchange raising almost US$4 billion in the process. In September 2013, Suntory purchased the drinks division of GlaxoSmithKline, a deal that included the brands Lucozade and Ribena, though not Horlicks.
In January 2014, Suntory announced an agreement to buy the largest U.S. bourbon producer, Beam Inc. (producers of Jim Beam) for US$16 billion. This deal would make Suntory the world's third largest spirits maker. The acquisition was completed in April 2014, and the new subsidiary was renamed Beam Suntory.
In December 2016, Beam Suntory acquired the gin maker Sipsmith. A year later, Suntory and PepsiCo formed a joint venture in Thailand.
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In 2018, Suntory sold most of Cerebos Pacific's assets, including Australian and New Zealand food business, to Kraft Heinz for A$290 million. This transaction excluded Cerebos Pacific's health supplements and fresh coffee business, which were later integrated into Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. and Suntory Coffee Australia, respectively.
In recent leadership changes, in March 2023, Makiko Ono became the first woman to be appointed CEO of Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. In May 2024, Beam Suntory was rebranded as Suntory Global Spirits including the launch of a new website and visual identity.
Nobuhiro Torii, great-grandson of founder Shinjirō Torii, was appointed as president of Suntory Holdings beginning March 2025, with incumbent president Takeshi Niinami appointed as its chairman. However, in September 2025, Takeshi Niinami resigned as the company's chairman following an investigation into the purchase of possibly illegal supplements.
From Wikipedia’s article on Suntory, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4