"Intoxicated by K-Content" ... Soju, $110 Million Export 'Cheers'

HiteJinro and Lotte Chilsung Beverage Achieve Record High Export Volume
Rapid Growth in Chinese and Japanese Markets Driven by Strengthened Contactless and SNS Marketing

"I started drinking soju while watching Squid Game, and now I'm on my second bottle. I'm completely drunk right now."

"I looked up soju in the dictionary, and it says the alcohol content ranges from 16.8% to 53%. Does the alcohol content vary by brand?"

"The one I drank was 20%, and it says Jinro on the bottle." (A post about Squid Game on Reddit, the largest community in the U.S.)

Our soju is making people around the world intoxicated. With growing interest in K-content in the content market, such as the movie Parasite and the drama Squid Game, soju exports have greatly exceeded last year's figures, surpassing 100 million dollars and setting new records every month.

Soju exports exceed 100 million dollars this year

According to the liquor industry on the 28th, the combined soju export value of HiteJinro and Lotte Chilsung Beverage exceeded 110 million dollars from January to September. As of this month (October), the total export value of these two companies last year (118.86 million dollars) has already been surpassed. HiteJinro and Lotte Chilsung Beverage recorded soju export values of 56.36 million dollars and 26 million dollars respectively in the first half (January to June). HiteJinro is expected to break the '100 million dollar soju export tower' for the first time this year. This represents a 35% growth compared to last year (74 million dollars), marking the highest growth rate in soju exports. Lotte Chilsung Beverage is also expected to exceed 50 million dollars this year with a 20% growth.

Especially, there has been rapid growth in the Chinese and Japanese markets. According to HiteJinro, exports to Greater China and Asia (including China and Hong Kong) reached 14.28 million dollars in the first half, a 67% increase compared to the same period last year. Exports to Japan (including Australia and other Oceania countries) increased by 31% to 11.96 million dollars. The Americas region also saw a slight increase to 91.6 million dollars.

In China, HiteJinro's soju exports, led by the Jinro brand (pronounced "Zhenlu" in Chinese), surpassed 1 million boxes (each box containing 30 bottles). This is the second time a single country has sold over 1 million boxes in a year since Japan in 1994. HiteJinro's soju sales in the Chinese market have grown at an average annual rate of 41% since 2018. Last year, 878,000 boxes were sold, an increase of about 56% compared to the previous year. In Thailand, soju export value grew more than threefold compared to the same period last year. Lotte Chilsung Beverage is rapidly increasing its export scale in Japan and Southeast Asia.

Fruit Soju Captivates the World

The product captivating people worldwide is fruit soju (fruit liqueur). Along with the global attention on Korean Wave content such as the movie Parasite and the drama Squid Game, the purchase ratio by locals has also surged. According to HiteJinro, the proportion of soju purchases by overseas locals increased from 30.6% in 2016 to 68.8% last year. In HiteJinro's case, fruit soju exports have been growing by more than 50% annually. This year, the share of fruit soju in China expanded from 14% in 2017 to 60%.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage developed an export-only brand called "Soonhari." In Japan, fruit soju sales increased more than fivefold, and riding this momentum, they recently placed Chamisul and Green Grape Aiseul in major convenience stores across Japan. HiteJinro plans to raise the local purchase ratio to about 90% in strategic countries by 2024.

Hwang Jeong-ho, head of HiteJinro's overseas business division, said, "Despite the difficulties caused by COVID-19, we saw sales growth in major countries in the first half through proactive responses such as non-face-to-face marketing and integration of social networking service (SNS) channels." He added, "In the second half, we plan to target entertainment channel sales in strategic countries such as the U.S., China, and Southeast Asia, aligning with the 'With Corona' (gradual return to normal life) movement."