Sales Decline of Qingdao, Haerbin, and Corona Beers at Convenience Store A
Qingdao Relinquishes Title as No.1 Imported Beer at Convenience Stores
Overall Downtrend Inevitable for Chinese Beer Brands
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Amid the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), causing China phobia to be detected in various places, there is a phenomenon of avoiding Chinese beers such as 'Qingdao' and 'Harbin' as well as the Mexican beer 'Corona' simply because they share the same name.
According to convenience store A on the 3rd, sales of Qingdao, Harbin, and Corona beers last month decreased by 15.1%, 18.5%, and 23.8% respectively compared to the previous month. Compared to the same period last year, Qingdao and Corona beers dropped by 46.3% and 19.3% respectively. Harbin beer sales cannot be compared as it was not sold last year.
However, at convenience store B, sales of Qingdao and Harbin beers decreased by 5.2% and 3.2% respectively compared to the previous month, but Corona beer sales increased by 18%. At convenience store C, which does not carry Harbin beer, Qingdao beer sales fell by 14.3%, while Corona beer sales slightly increased by 2.6%. The answer lies in social networking services (SNS). While some people avoid Corona beer because it shares its name with the virus, various parodies have been created, indicating consumers' curiosity has been focused on it.
Chinese beers enjoyed significant benefits from last year's boycott of Japanese products. According to customs import-export trade statistics, beer import value last year was $280.88 million, down 9.3% from the previous year. Beer import value had generally increased continuously since 2000, when full-scale imports began, except for 2009.
The biggest cause of the slump in imported beer is the weakness of Japanese beer. Japanese beer, which accounted for a quarter of beer import value in 2018 ($78.3 million), was halved last year to $39.76 million due to the boycott of Japanese products that started in July last year. The position was taken by Chinese beer. Chinese beer import value increased from $40.91 million in 2018 to $43.46 million last year, making it the top imported beer. This was especially led by Qingdao beer. Qingdao beer had established itself as the number one imported beer brand domestically, but it is expected to lose the top spot this year. Convenience stores have already relinquished the title of number one imported beer.
A convenience store official explained, "Because the epicenter of COVID-19 is the Wuhan region in China, more customers are avoiding Chinese beer."
Beer K, which imports and sells Qingdao beer, is also deeply considering its external marketing activities. They believe that at a time when China phobia is rampant, such activities might only provoke backlash.
An industry insider said, "During the spread of COVID-19, internet searches for terms like 'Corona beer virus' and 'beer Corona virus' have increased, spreading posts linking the virus and the beer," adding, "Some consumers find it amusing and purchase Corona beer, while others express a firm intention never to buy it, making sales unpredictable." The insider further stated, "However, the longer the situation continues, the more negative the impact on sales is expected to be," and added, "An overall decline in Chinese beer brands is inevitable."
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