HiteJinro "First Half Thailand Export Value Grows Threefold"

Thailand's major supermarket Makro is actively targeting the home market by installing exclusive displays for Chamisul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] HiteJinro announced on the 21st that its export performance to Thailand in the first half of this year recorded $1.55 million, tripling compared to the same period last year. Since declaring the globalization of soju in 2016, it has steadily grown at an average annual rate of 30% over four years until 2020.

The background of this growth is analyzed to be due to efforts such as pioneering local distribution channels, expanding fruit liqueur product lines to target the home market, and consumer experience marketing activities like ‘Jinro Day’ to increase brand awareness.

Since 2016, HiteJinro has entered soju and fruit liqueur products into some stores of large marts such as BigC and Makro, targeting the home market by launching mart-exclusive planned products, installing exclusive displays, and expanding product lines with the release of Strawberry Aseul. This year, it also entered over 5,000 stores of Seven-Eleven, the largest convenience store chain in Thailand, and plans to continuously strive to expand local distribution channels.

Additionally, HiteJinro has been conducting ‘Jinro Day’ at major restaurants in Bangkok since December last year, receiving positive responses from local Thai consumers. The strategy aims to provide many consumers with soju tasting experiences and build brand awareness through tasting events.

Hwang Jeong-ho, Executive Director of HiteJinro’s Overseas Business Division, said, "Since declaring the globalization of soju in 2016, we have been focusing on Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia by considering various factors including economic growth, population base, and liquor market status, leading the soju market. We expect to continue double-digit growth this year through enhancing the soju brand image and globalization strategy in Thailand."

Meanwhile, as a result of continuous efforts for localization such as expanding purchases by local consumers overseas since the declaration of soju globalization in 2016, the proportion of local consumers drinking soju in major export countries analyzed increased more than twice from 37.1% in 2016 to 77.0% in 2020.

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