'Tera' Dominated Only by 'Hite' · The High Wall of 'Cass'... The Disappearance of Lotte Asahi (Comprehensive)

No.1 Cass, No.2 Terra Followed by Tsingtao and Heineken... Hite Falls Outside Rankings
OB Beer Leads Sales with 50% Market Share, HiteJinro 25%, Heineken 5%
2018's No.4 Lotte Asahi Liquor Drops Out of Rankings Due to Boycott Impact

2019 Domestic Beer Retail Market Sales Scale by Manufacturer.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Last year, HiteJinro's 'Terra' appeared like a comet. It even created the new term 'Tesla (Terra + Chamisul)' and sparked a sales frenzy, but it was not enough to threaten OB Beer’s 'Cass,' the number one beer brand in Korea. Cass still did not give up its top spot, and Terra's rise to second place is analyzed to be due to securing the market share of HiteJinro's 'Hite.'

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation's Food Industry Statistical Information (Nielsen Korea survey) on the 27th, last year, the number one brand in the domestic beer retail market was Cass (retail sales of 1.19 trillion KRW, market share 36%). In particular, Cass maintained its status as the top brand by recording retail market sales of 927.5 billion KRW (Q2 to Q4) even after Terra was launched in the second quarter. The second highest retail sales were HiteJinro's new product Terra, which held a market share of 6.3% (212.1 billion KRW).

The third place was Tsingtao (4.1%), and fourth was Heineken (3.7%). Hite was the second-ranked brand as of 2018 but was pushed out of the top five. The industry evaluated that Terra was able to become the second-ranked brand last year by eroding Hite’s market share. In fact, in 2018, Hite held a market share of 10.1%, ranking second after Cass (35.8%).

Brand market share status of domestic beer retail market in 2019.

Last year, the beer retail market sales amounted to 3.317 trillion KRW, with OB Beer accounting for 1.6467 trillion KRW, representing 49.6% of the total market. The second-ranked HiteJinro’s sales were about half of OB Beer’s at 839.9 billion KRW (25.3%). The gap with the first place is large. Following were Heineken (4.7%), Beer K (4.4%), and Lotte Liquor (4.3%). In 2018, the rankings were OB Beer 48%, HiteJinro 23%, Lotte Liquor 5.8%, Lotte Asahi 5.7%, and Heineken 4%. Lotte Asahi’s sales decreased last year due to the boycott of Japanese products, causing its sales to decline and pushing it out of the rankings.

Meanwhile, Nielsen’s beer retail market statistics compile annual sales by brand and company across all types of retail channels, including convenience stores, discount stores, cooperative marts, and department stores.

An industry insider said, "The retail market accounts for roughly half of the beer market, so it indirectly reflects the overall beer market landscape and market share. Unlike the entertainment market, the retail market is less influenced by sales promotions, so consumer purchase intentions and preferences are considered to be more accurately reflected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.