CU "Gompyo Beer Craze, Surpasses Cass to Become No.1 in Sales"

Gompyo Wheat Beer (Photo by CU).

Korea's First Contract-Manufactured Craft Beer… CU's "3 Million Units Supplied, Becomes No.1 Beer in Just Two Days"
Daily Sales Peak at 150,000 Units…Craft Beer Sales Share Recently Rises to 28.1%

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yuri] Gompyou Wheat Beer sold at CU has surpassed traditional giants like Cass to become the top-selling beer.

CU announced on the 6th that on the 30th of last month, Gompyou Wheat Beer overtook Cass, Terra, Heineken, and other domestic and imported beers to claim the number one spot in sales. This record was achieved just two days after CU received a bulk supply of 3 million units.

This is the first time in over 30 years that a differentiated product sold exclusively at convenience stores has beaten major manufacturers' products to become number one. Analysts say this is significant as it surpassed steady sellers backed by massive marketing campaigns, including TV advertisements, purely on product strength.

Gompyou Wheat Beer recently exceeded daily sales of 150,000 units. This daily sales volume approaches the monthly average sales of 200,000 units from last year. Compared to the previous year, this is 22.5 times higher.

CU explained, "Since its first release in May last year, supply shortages caused sell-out situations until recently, but as mass production became possible and supply met demand, sales exploded."

Sevenbrau, the manufacturer of Gompyou Wheat Beer, increased production volume 15-fold compared to last year by outsourcing production to Lotte Chilsung Beverage. This was made possible due to regulatory easing from this year allowing licensed alcohol manufacturers to perform contract manufacturing (OEM) using other manufacturers' facilities.

Despite the increased volume, some stores still experience sell-outs. A limited sale of 200 boxes of Gompyou Wheat Beer through CU's membership app 'Pocket CU' ended within three minutes of opening.

Thanks to Gompyou Wheat Beer's success, CU's craft beer sales continue to set new records daily. Last year, craft beers surpassed a 10% sales share among domestic beers for the first time, and after the mass supply of Gompyou Wheat Beer, this share recently soared to 28.1%.

CU stated, "Follow-up products to Gompyou Wheat Beer, such as Malpyou Dark Beer and Orange Neun-eun Olhta, are also attracting great consumer interest," adding, "As a result, CU's craft beer sales in the past week jumped 365.5% compared to the previous year."

Lee Seung-taek, MD of the Beverage Food Team at BGF Retail, said, "Gompyou Wheat Beer, Korea's first contract-manufactured craft beer with increased volume, is absorbing latent demand and causing a seismic shift in the convenience store beer market," and added, "We plan to continuously introduce new products filled with fresh ideas."

CU handles a total of about 30 types of craft beer. A promotion of 4 cans for 10,000 won is ongoing for all products.

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