[Report] "Dreaming of Various Possibilities"... Visiting the Beer Expo

The 5th Beer Expo Held at COEX Until the 8th
197 Companies from 10 Countries Participate... Beer, Wine, and More

"Looking at recently released alcoholic beverages, the boundaries between beer, whiskey, wine, and traditional liquor are breaking down during the brewing process, and there seem to be many attempts to absorb and apply each other's strengths."

The ‘5th Korea International Beer Expo (KIBEX 2023)’ is held for three days from the 6th to the 8th at COEX Hall C in Samseong-dong, Seoul. KIBEX is an expo where you can see all businesses in the industry value chain in one place, from beer ingredients and brewing equipment companies to breweries, importers and wholesalers, franchises, and service, education, and media companies. This year, 197 companies from 10 countries with 935 brands participated.

This year, KIBEX was newly branded as ‘DRINK SEOUL,’ expanding the categories and boundaries by adding wine and traditional liquor to the existing beer expo. Lee Jong-hoon, who visited the expo, said, "I came for the beer, but I realized that experiencing various types of alcohol also helps deepen the understanding of beer."

A booth of One World Beer, importing 'Alesmith' and 'Drakes'.

The most eye-catching spot at this expo was the American craft beer pavilion, which had the largest booth in the center of the venue. The U.S. booth, prepared by the Agricultural Trade Office of the U.S. Embassy in Korea together with the Brewers Association (BA), expanded the booth size and more than doubled the number of beer samples compared to last year. Visitors could experience and taste a variety of beers, from widely known brands in Korea like ‘AleSmith’ to unique beers from local breweries that are hard to find domestically, such as mango vanilla ice cream beer and pastry beer.

Jeon Hye-rim, Marketing Officer at the Agricultural Trade Office of the U.S. Embassy in Korea, said, "Our role is not only to introduce American beers to Korea but also to find importers for American beers that have not yet been introduced domestically. Usually, imported beers take more than three months for transportation, but at this event, you can try fresh and unique beers brought in immediately after bottling, so I hope you come and taste them."

The highball trend, which has recently gained popularity especially among younger generations, was also noticeable. At this expo, Kabrew and Sevenbrau, the senior companies in the domestic craft beer industry, both presented highballs as their representative products instead of beer. Kim Bo-young, Marketing Team Manager at Kabrew, explained, "We prepared the recently launched ‘Easy Highball’ product, as well as ginger and grapefruit highballs to be released soon, and highball products for kegs."

Lounge view of the 5th Korea International Beer Expo (KIBEX 2023).

As the expo expanded its scope to various types of alcoholic beverages beyond beer, the booth of Shinsegae L&B, the largest wine importer in Korea, also stood out. Shinsegae L&B operates a total of four booths themed around Old World and New World wines, whiskey, and Wine & More. Reflecting the recent whiskey craze, Shinsegae L&B showcased whiskeys such as ‘Evan Williams Black’ and ‘Matsui Whiskey,’ as well as Wine & More exclusive wines like California Lodi daily wines ‘Instigator Chardonnay’ and ‘Instigator Cabernet Sauvignon.’

KIBEX 2023 is hosted by GMEG, a professional exhibition and convention company in the alcoholic beverage sector, and sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Agricultural Trade Office of the U.S. Embassy in Korea, the Canadian Embassy, the Korea Craft Beer Association, the Japan Craft Beer Association, and the Korea Alcohol Safety Association.

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