"Zero-e Jinsim" Lotte Chilsung Leads Zero Beverage Market

Sales of 'Milkis Zero' Begin on the 22nd
Expanding Lineup to Strengthen Market Leadership

Lotte Chilsung Beverage 'Milkis Zero'

Lotte Chilsung Beverage is set to firmly seize the lead in the 'zero' beverage market. Having successfully linked products without sugar or calories, such as ‘Chilsung Cider Zero’ and ‘Cheoeum Cheoreom Saero’, to its performance last year, the company plans to continue leading the zero trend this year by launching a series of zero products.

According to industry sources on the 22nd, Lotte Chilsung Beverage began the official sales of its new product, ‘Milkis Zero’, from that day.

Milkis Zero is a new product of Milkis, which was first launched in 1989. Before the official sales, it garnered great consumer anticipation and interest as the prepared stock sold out early during the first and second pre-sales held on the 13th and 16th at the official direct mall, Chilseong Mall. Milkis Zero maintains the soft milk flavor and refreshing carbonation of the original Milkis while reducing calorie burden as a zero-calorie product. It is available in three sizes: 250mL cans and 300mL and 500mL PET bottles.

Lotte Chilsung has been aggressively introducing zero-calorie beverages to the market, including Milkis Zero. The company officially entered the zero beverage market in 2021 with the launch of Chilsung Cider Zero and ‘Pepsi Cola Zero’, and expanded its zero lineup last year with ‘Toms Zero’, ‘Hot6 Zero’, and ‘Ceylon Tea Zero’. Earlier this year, it launched ‘Pepsi Zero Sugar Mango’ ahead of Milkis Zero. In the alcoholic beverage sector, in September last year, it introduced ‘Cheoeum Cheoreom Saero’, made with a zero sugar method using no fructose, unlike traditional soju.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage 'Cheoeumcheoreom New'

Lotte Chilsung’s enthusiasm for launching zero beverages stems from the strong sales of related products quickly released in line with the recently spotlighted ‘Healthy Pleasure’ trend, which has directly translated into performance. Lotte Chilsung Beverage’s consolidated sales and operating profit last year were 2.8417 trillion KRW and 222.9 billion KRW, respectively, marking improvements of 13.4% and 22.3% compared to the previous year, driven by the zero trend in both beverage and alcoholic beverage sectors.

In the beverage business, operating profit increased by 10.6% year-on-year to 165.9 billion KRW, led mainly by an 18% increase in sales of carbonated beverages such as Chilsung Cider Zero. The alcoholic beverage sector also saw a 50.3% improvement in operating profit thanks to the success of Cheoeum Cheoreom Saero, which recorded cumulative sales of over 50 million bottles as of last month.

As demand for zero beverages is expected to continue expanding for the time being, Lotte Chilsung plans to maintain its new product offensive in the zero market. Within this year, the company will launch ‘Cantata Zero’ and ‘2% Aqua Zero’, and plans to release Cheoeum Cheoreom Saero, currently available only in bottles, in a 640mL PET bottle within the first half of the year to sustain the recent positive momentum. According to market research firm Euromonitor, the domestic zero-calorie carbonated beverage market size, which was around 90.3 billion KRW in 2016, grew to 218.9 billion KRW in 2021 and is estimated to have exceeded 300 billion KRW last year.

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