OKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japanese brewers Kirin Holdings (2503.T) and Suntory [SUNTH.UL] dropped plans to create a combined food and drinks group with $43 billion in annual sales after disagreeing over levels of control in a merged firm.

The two brewers began talks eight months ago with the aim of building the scale needed to keep pace with global consolidation sweeping across the industry and grow outside the Japanese market, which is shrinking along with the population.