Kyochon Chicken Acquires Moonbear Brewing... Enters Craft Beer Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Kyochon F&B, the operator of the chicken franchise brand Kyochon Chicken, is making a full-scale entry into the craft beer business.

On the 4th, Kyochon signed an asset transfer agreement for tangible and intangible assets related to the craft beer manufacturing business with Indulge. The acquisition price is approximately 12 billion KRW, and the legal procedures for the asset transfer are planned to be completed within the first half of this year.

Indulge's craft beer division operates the craft beer brand 'Moonbear Brewing,' launched in 2018, and has an eco-friendly brewery in Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do, capable of producing 4.5 million liters of beer annually. So far, they have introduced four types of craft beer: Geumgangsan Golden Ale, Hallasan Wit, Baekdusan IPA, and Seoraksan Stout.

With this acquisition, Kyochon plans to actively nurture the craft beer business as a new growth engine. Without additional facility investments, they aim to quickly capture the 'Chimaek (chicken + beer)' consumption culture by leveraging the already production-competitive brewery and the infrastructure of over 1,280 Kyochon Chicken franchise stores nationwide.

Additionally, the recent rapid growth of the domestic craft beer market is a positive factor. According to the Korea Craft Beer Association, the craft beer market reached 118 billion KRW last year, growing 2.7 times in the past three years, and is expected to reach 370 billion KRW in 2023.

Sojin-se, Chairman of Kyochon F&B, said, “We decided on this acquisition to fully promote the craft beer business as a new growth engine,” adding, “We will develop differentiated craft beers and grow it into a win-win business model for both franchise stores and headquarters through synergy with the existing franchise business.”

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