"Gompyo Wheat Beer, Previously Sold Out Due to Shortage, to Release 3 Million Units at CU"

CU is showcasing collaboration products with GomPyo, including the GomPyo wheat beer.

Alcohol OEM Production Enabled, Produced Through Lotte Chilsung
CU to Supply 3 Million GomPyo Wheat Beers Starting from the 29th
Craft Beer Sales Growth Rate: 87.4% in 2018, 220.4% in 2019, 498.4% in 2020

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yuri] CU announced on the 28th that 'GomPyo Wheat Beer,' which caused a 'sold-out frenzy' last year with cumulative sales of 2 million units, will be mass-supplied through the country's first craft beer OEM production.

Until now, GomPyo Wheat Beer’s supply was not smooth due to production facility limitations despite high demand. Some consumers even visited CU stores with stock to find GomPyo Wheat Beer.

The total quantity of GomPyo Wheat Beer supplied to CU stores from the 29th through May will be 3 million units. This is double the amount sold last year (1.5 million units) and represents a more than 15-fold increase from the previous monthly supply of 200,000 units.

The ability to supply craft beer in large quantities became possible after the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced the 'Alcohol Regulation Improvement Plan' last year, which eased regulations to allow manufacturers with alcohol production licenses to perform OEM production using other manufacturers’ facilities. Following the detailed enforcement decree announced last month, GomPyo Wheat Beer manufacturer 'SevenBrew' commissioned Lotte Chilsung Beverage to produce GomPyo Wheat Beer in large quantities.

If this batch of GomPyo Wheat Beer sells out, it will become the first craft beer in convenience store history to rank number one in beer sales, surpassing both domestic and imported beers.

GomPyo Wheat Beer became a convenience store hit product when its initial 100,000 units sold out within three days of its launch in May last year. CU’s craft beer sales also showed a significant upward trend. Over the past three years, CU’s craft beer sales growth rates were 87.4% in 2018, 220.4% in 2019, and reached an all-time high of 498.4% in 2020 when GomPyo Wheat Beer was introduced. The share of craft beer in CU’s domestic beer sales also jumped more than sixfold from about 1.9% in 2018 to 11.9% last year.

According to the Korea Craft Beer Association, the craft beer market size, which was around 20 billion KRW in 2016, grew significantly to 118 billion KRW last year. CU expects the number of customers enjoying craft beer to increase further and plans to greatly expand the scale of craft beer releases and actively promote the '4 cans for 10,000 KRW' event. The number of craft beer varieties released by CU last year was about 30, roughly double that of the previous year.

Lee Seung-taek, MD of the Beverage Food Team at BGF Retail, said, "GomPyo Wheat Beer, which has led the success of convenience store craft beers by offering not only taste but also fun, is expected to receive great response as more customers will be able to meet it. CU will continue broad collaborations with domestic breweries to introduce products that will sustain the popularity of GomPyo Wheat Beer."

Meanwhile, starting from the 29th of this month, CU will also sell 200 boxes (24 cans per box) of GomPyo Wheat Beer through its membership app PocketCU. Customers can pay via PocketCU and pick up the product at designated CU stores. This first round of sales will be followed by a total of five rounds, with a limited sale of 1,000 boxes planned.

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