South Korea: Cass beer successfully retains position of leading brand in Q3

In the third quarter of this year, OB’s steady-seller beer, Cass, successfully retained its position as the leading brand in the South Korean home beer market, the Business Korea reported on November 6.

According to the food industry statistics information from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation on Nov. 5, the retail store sales of Cass from July to September reached 428.12 billion won (US$326.31 million), establishing itself as the top beer brand in terms of sales during the period. Cass had a 37.89 percent share of the retail store market as of the end of September, which was slightly lower than the 38.89 percent share during the same period last year.

In second place was HiteJinro’s Terra, while Lotte Asahi Liquor’s Asahi secured the third spot. Terra’s retail store sales for the same period were approximately 120.57 billion won, similar to the previous year. However, its market share dropped to 10.67 percent, a decrease of 3.86 percentage points.

Asahi recorded sales of 84.12 billion won with a market share of 7.44 percent in the third quarter. Asahi’s retail store sales ranking was outside the top 10 in the same period last year, but it climbed to 9th place in March and further rose to 3rd place in July.

HiteJinro’s new beer brand Kelly, which was launched in April, secured the 4th position with sales of 75.21 billion won with a market share of 6.66 percent. In the same company, FiLite recorded sales of 63.39 billion won and a market share of 5.61 percent, placing it in the 5th position. Prior to the release of Kelly, FiLite was ranked 3rd in sales, but it fell to 5th place this time compared to the same period last year.

The competition among beer brands is anticipated to intensify further this month. In particular, the beverage industry is keeping a close eye on a new product, a 4.5 percent alcohol Cloud Lager, to be unveiled by Lotte Chilsung Beverage on Nov. 21.

Furthermore, the “sanitation controversy” surrounding Tsingtao beer, which emerged in China, is also mentioned as a factor in the shift of sales rankings. Since a video was released last month, showing a man urinating in what is presumed to be beer raw materials at a local Tsingtao beer production facility in China, consumers in South Korea have reduced their interest in this product. Tsingtao beer, which climbed to 6th place in the third quarter with sales of 41.66 billion won, is now facing a significant likelihood of slipping further in the rankings in the fourth quarter.

In addition, the price increases by OB and HiteJinro are also expected to impact consumer preferences. OB raised the factory wholesale prices of key beer products, such as Cass and Hanmac, by an average of 6.9 percent on Oct. 11. HiteJinro, on the other hand, will increase the factory wholesale prices of products like Terra and Kelly by an average of 6.8 percent on the Nov. 9.

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