[I Want to Start a Business Too] "No Company Dinners? No Problem"... 'Lifestyle Beer' Loved by 'Honsuljok'

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon]“It feels so good to get drunk!”

Looking inside a store with witty phrases, you naturally want to enjoy a ‘solo drink’ at this beer house. ‘Saenghwal Maekju’ (Living Beer), specializing in domestic craft beer, is a leading craft beer franchise in Korea that has been steadily growing for 8 years.

Since opening its flagship store in Yeouido in 2014, Saenghwal Maekju currently operates about 200 franchise locations and also runs 27 directly managed stores under the slogan “Saenghwal Maekju also starts Saenghwal Maekju.”

Saenghwal Maekju features easy cooking methods, labor cost reduction, and a small-package refrigerated delivery system.

Also, by incorporating witty phrases such as “Free soju mixed with beer,” “It feels so good to get drunk!,” and “Life is beer” into store interiors and consumables, and promoting through SNS channels like Facebook and Instagram, it has gained steady popularity among customers in their 20s and 30s.

When Saenghwal Maekju was established in 2014, it introduced a ‘beer platform’ business model to distribute craft beers from small breweries nationwide and sell them in stores. At that time, small breweries faced capital and scale limitations, making it difficult to actively promote to consumers nationwide, resulting in unstable profits. Saenghwal Maekju’s platform helped them develop new beers and build brand competitiveness.

It introduced consumers to distinctive regional beers that were previously hard to access and provided breweries with opportunities to supply high-quality craft beer stably, growing into a virtuous cycle model of regional beer coexistence alongside the development of the domestic craft beer industry.

Collaborative activities with breweries nationwide are also notable. Due to capital and scale limitations, small breweries found it difficult to target consumers nationwide, but Saenghwal Maekju’s distribution network introduces them to consumers. More than 50 beers have been created through collaboration with breweries nationwide. It also pioneered the industry’s first ‘4 cans for 10,000 won’ craft beer promotion, capturing the craft beer delivery market.

Before introducing franchises, Saenghwal Maekju accumulated stable store operation know-how through pilot sales and tests at directly managed stores and is building a win-win platform between headquarters and franchisees.

Startup benefits from Saenghwal Maekju include chick support, promotional cost support, delivery consulting, free online marketing support, and headquarters open advisor personnel support. Saenghwal Maekju has long provided franchise owners with promotional cost support worth 20 million won, free hygiene masks, hand sanitizers, and essential raw materials.

Meanwhile, Saenghwal Maekju recently successfully completed a 7 billion won Series A investment round. This investment involved a consortium of major domestic VCs including LB Investment and Wonik Investment Partners.

Im Sangjin, CEO of Saenghwal Maekju, stated, “With this investment, we plan to expand synergies across the entire business through strategic consultations with partner investors, including ▲expansion of directly managed stores ▲entry into global markets ▲improvement of logistics processes ▲marketing promotions.”