In late 2025, Murree Brewery—Pakistan's oldest and best-known brewery—shipped beer overseas for the first time in nearly half a century. The headlines focused on the end of a decades-long export ban. But the more instructive story is how Murree built its international distribution network before the beer could legally follow. By exporting non-alcoholic drinks to more than a dozen countries since 2020, the company established relationships with distributors who would later become its first beer customers. When policy finally changed, the channel was already there.
Here's how distribution strategy, regulatory constraints, and domestic market limits shaped one of the most unusual export comebacks in brewing.
The Distribution-First Playbook
Murree Brewery's return to beer exports was eased by an existing overseas footprint in alcohol-free drinks. Since 2020, the company has exported malt beverages, juices, bottled water, and fruit-flavored drinks to more than a dozen countries. According to NPR, the first distributors in the U.K. and Japan to buy Murree's beer were already importing some of the company's non-alcoholic options.
"They are easy to target because they know us," says Ramiz Shah, Murree's export manager. Relationships built through juices and malt drinks opened a window for beer sales the moment export approval arrived.
The Drinks Business reports that non-alcoholic exports currently generate around $30,000 per month and continue to outpace alcoholic shipments. Murree did not wait for beer to be legal to export—it built the distribution infrastructure first, then layered beer on top when policy allowed.
Domestic Limits and the Export Imperative
Pakistan's domestic market for alcohol is severely constrained. Drinking is illegal for the country's Muslim majority, though alcohol remains available to non-Muslims and foreigners under permit. There are only around 9 million non-Muslims in Pakistan—less than 4% of a population of some 250 million—creating serious growth limitations for a producer of alcoholic beverages.
"The government benefits if we export," explains Murree CEO Isphanyar Bhandara, whose grandfather acquired the brewery in 1947. Export is not just growth; it is survival. With domestic demand capped by law and demographics, international distribution is the only path to scale.
The Regulatory Breakthrough
In 1977, then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto imposed nationwide prohibition. His successor, Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, tightened the rules further, including lashing as punishment for drinking. Murree was allowed to continue operating domestically for non-Muslims and foreigners—but not to export. "The theory behind the export ban was that an Islamic country should not be seen as exporting a vice," Bhandara says.
A 2022 change to Pakistan's export policy altered that calculus. The Export Policy Order 2022 permits alcohol exports to countries that are not part of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc of 57 nations with significant Muslim populations. Permissions are granted on a case-by-case basis, and Murree had to secure a series of departmental clearances before shipping a single can.
The long-awaited approvals were met with cautious optimism. "Initially, we were not confident that all of the things will go smooth," Shah says. But the first shipment—to the United Kingdom—went out in spring 2025 to test the export process. Consignments to Portugal and Japan followed. The brewery is now exploring the United States and Canada.
A Family Business Under Constraint
Murree Brewery was founded in 1860 during British colonial rule to supply troops. The Bhandara family—part of Pakistan's tiny Parsi minority, descendants of Persian Zoroastrians—acquired it in 1947, the year Pakistan was created through India's partition. That minority status has been significant: Parsis are not subject to Islamic prohibitions on alcohol, enabling three generations to operate a brewery in an Islamic republic.
Bhandara's father, Minocher Bhandara, who held a seat in parliament and served as minority affairs adviser to Zia, lobbied the government for years for export permission. Isphanyar Bhandara continued that effort after taking over in 2008. (He too serves in parliament.) The brewery briefly entered partnerships in the early 2000s with breweries in Austria and the Czech Republic that produced Murree-branded beer, but direct exports from Pakistan remained blocked until 2025.
Before the 1977 ban, Murree had exported to India, the United States, and even Afghanistan. The return to those markets—or new ones—required not only policy change but a distribution strategy that could work within decades of constraint.
Production, Competition, and Cautious Growth
Every month, more than 1 million cans are produced at Murree's industrial facilities in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, and prepared for distribution around the country. The company employs approximately 2,200 people and recorded its best year on record in 2025, surpassing $100 million in annual revenue. Just over half of that comes from non-alcoholic drinks and glass bottles rather than alcohol.
Murree now faces local competition from the Chinese-run Hui Coastal Brewery and distillery in Balochistan, which started production in 2021. Yet Murree's diversified portfolio—and its established non-alcoholic export channel—has allowed it to grow despite a constrained domestic market and new rivals.
Exports are expected to build gradually over the next three to four years as Murree establishes itself in an oversupplied global beer market. For now, the brewery does not intend to crank up production aggressively. "We were always brought up with this concept: not to expand the brewery, not to increase the capacity. Keep your head down. There is an Islamic country," Bhandara says. "We don't want to be seen as flexing our muscles while producing liquor."
What Brewers Can Learn From Murree's Distribution Strategy
Murree's story offers a clear lesson for producers operating under regulatory or market constraints: build distribution before the product. By exporting non-alcoholic beverages first, Murree created relationships with importers and distributors who understood the brand, the supply chain, and the paperwork. When beer export became legal, those partners were ready. The channel preceded the product.
For craft brewers in more permissive markets, the parallel is different but relevant. Whether you are launching a new SKU, entering a new state, or testing an export market, the same principle holds: establish the route to market before you scale production. Murree did it under some of the most restrictive conditions imaginable—and after 48 years of waiting, the distribution was already there.
Sources: NPR Illinois (Betsy Joles, Jan 31 2026); The Drinks Business (James Bayley, Feb 2 2026); Pakistan Today; Pakistan Export Policy Order 2022 (SRO 544); Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
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