CU, No-Label Bottled Water Sales Up 78%... "Sales Soared After Removing Labels"

HEYROO Mineral Water No-Label Bottled Water sold at CU.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] CU's unlabeled transparent private brand (PB) bottled water, launched last month to promote eco-friendly consumption, is gaining great popularity.

According to CU on the 22nd, an analysis of sales of the unlabeled bottled water HEYROO Mineral Water (500ml) from the 25th of last month to the 20th of this month showed a 78.2% increase compared to the previous year. Compared to the overall bottled water sales increase of 20.4% during the same period, this represents about 3.8 times higher growth. This is interpreted as consumer preference for eco-friendly products translating into actual purchases.

CU launched the HEYROO Mineral Water PB bottled water in three sizes last month: 500ml, 1L, and 2L, with the 500ml version released as an unlabeled product. This is the first in the industry for individual products. The unlabeled bottled water can be easily separated and disposed of without the hassle of removing labels for recycling, which increases the recycling rate of used PET bottles and reduces the amount of vinyl used for label production to about half compared to before.

A BGF Retail official said, “There were many concerns at first about this new attempt to remove labels, but along with the eco-friendly advantages, there were many positive evaluations that the water in the transparent PET bottle looks visually cleaner and clearer.” He added, “As active responses from consumers practicing eco-friendly consumption have become visible, we will put more effort into practicing ESG management in the future.”

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