E-Malt.com News article: South Korea: Koreans want their imported beer in big cans

Beer cans are getting bigger with growing popularity of imported beer. Most canned beers sold in South Korea have been 330 ml or 355 ml, but people in their 30s and 40s who have developed a penchant for imported brews are plumbing for the half-litre and boosting the sales dramatically, The Chosunilbo reported on July 30.

Imported beer sales have grown steeply from a couple of years ago, and they now account for about 40 percent of total sales in major supermarket chains E-Mart, Lotte Mart, and Homeplus.

Sales of imported beers at Lotte Mart increased by 9.7 percent so far this year, and sales of domestic beers went down by 4.7 percent.

Most of bestselling imported beers come in 500-ml cans, which accounted for 23 percent of total beer sales at Lotte Mart this year, up four percentage points from a year ago.

In the same period, sales of 330- and 355-ml cans, which are mostly produced domestically, dropped five percentage points to 59.8 percent.

The Netherlands' Heineken in 500-ml can has been the import bestseller at Lotte Mart this year. For E-Mart, it has been Japan's Asahi, while Paulaner from Germany is most popular in Homeplus.

OB's Cass in the 355-ml can has been the bestselling domestic beer in all three supermarket chains.

"The main customer base of imported beer is people in their 30s and 40s and they tend to prefer bigger 500-ml cans, while domestic beer has a wider base across all generations," a Lotte staffer said.


31 July, 2015