E-Malt.com News article: South Korea: HiteJinro's domestic kirin beer production targets market lead

HiteJinro is pushing forward with domestic production of canned products for the Japanese Kirin Brewery’s beer brand ‘Kirin Ichibang,’ which it has previously handled through import and distribution. This move appears to be an attempt to recover market share in the beer sector by directly producing Japanese beer, which has recently gained significant popularity in South Korea, The Chosun Daily reported on September 15.

According to industry sources on the 15th, HiteJinro reported the product—produced at its Jeonju factory in North Jeolla Province—to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 3rd. The product, intended for domestic sales, is in canned form and is understood to have entered a trial production phase. HiteJinro has imported Kirin’s ‘Ichibanshibori’ bottled beer for premium restaurant sales since 2004 and has held exclusive contracts for Kirin’s canned and draft beers since 2011. No domestic production plans for other forms of the product, excluding cans, have been disclosed.

The industry views Kirin’s decision to produce domestically in South Korea as unusual. While Oriental Brewery produces other overseas beer brands under its parent company AB InBev (such as Budweiser from the U.S. and Hoegaarden from Belgium) locally, domestic production of Japanese beer brands—known for strict quality control—is rare. Given the conservative approach of Japanese beer companies toward local production, the industry expects HiteJinro and Kirin to collaborate through a technical partnership to produce Kirin Ichibang domestically.

HiteJinro’s partnership with Kirin is interpreted as a declaration of intent not to fall behind in the beer market. While HiteJinro dominates the domestic soju market with over 60% share, recovering beer market share remains a challenge. Though it led the market with its ‘Hite’ beer until the 2000s, it lost the top spot to Oriental Brewery’s ‘Cass’ in 2011 and has remained in second place since. HiteJinro announced its goal to reclaim the top position in the beer market with the launch of ‘Terra’ and ‘Kelly’ in 2023, but it has continued to struggle in the beer sector.

Given the recent surge in popularity of Japanese beer in South Korea, expectations are growing that collaboration with Kirin will create synergy. Last year, Japanese beer imports reached 103,222 tons, a 22% increase from the previous year (82,229 tons), surpassing 100,000 tons annually for the first time. Observers suggest that direct production could strengthen the supply chain, including inventory management. Producing Kirin beer at the Jeonju factory, which has seen declining operational rates, is also expected to improve production efficiency. The factory’s operational rate in the first half of this year was 57.7%, down from 58.3% in 2023 and 67% in 2022.

Amid no signs of recovery in the domestic liquor market, criticism is growing that liquor companies are intensifying competition to chip away at each other’s market share. Domestic liquor shipments began declining from a peak of 407,000 kiloliters in 2015, dropping to 315,000 kiloliters in 2024—a 23% decrease over nine years.

Cases of liquor companies challenging new sectors are increasing. Oriental Brewery, the domestic beer market leader, will launch its soju ‘Chalrang’ in late September in the Seoul metropolitan area and parts of Jeju. This marks Oriental Brewery’s first entry into the domestic soju market. Produced at the Jeju factory (formerly acquired from Shinsegae Group in 2024), it uses eastern Jeju’s volcanic bedrock water. A source from the liquor industry said, “With no growth in sight for the liquor market, companies appear to have judged that merely defending existing markets where they hold advantages has reached its limits.”


16 September, 2026