"THE YOUNG woman in the tight black and dark green dress approaches a table of men drinking beer. “Did you know Chang Beer is now made in Myanmar?” she asks. Behind her, a small sign in the restaurant advertises that Chang is “officially served” and that it’s “Time for a Change”. These are fairly standard promotional techniques for a consumer goods company that has just entered a new market. But the examples also reflect the slightly unusual nature of the market entry challenge for Emerald Brewery, which began producing Chang Beer at a factory north of Yangon in late September. It assumes most customers already know Chang: what it wants them to know is that it’s now made legally in Myanmar. Emerald Brewery is a US$70 million joint venture between Singapore’s Fraser & Neave Limited and two local partners, and it brews Chang under licence from its strategic partner, Thai Beverage Public Company Limited. The brewery venture marks Fraser & Neave’s return to Myanmar after a four-year absence. The company was previously the military’s joint venture partner in Myanmar Brewery Limited, but was forced by an arbitration court to sell its stake back to the military in 2015. Chang enters a crowded but rapidly growing beer market that remains dominated by military-owned Myanmar Brewery, with around a 55 percent market share. But unlike the other players, it may have to fend off competition from, well… itself..."