Hite Zero Sales Growth Rate 32% in 2020, 78% Last Year
Domestic Non-Alcoholic Beverage Market Size Grew 250% Last Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] "At first, I was skeptical, but it exceeded my expectations." Mr. A, a man in his 50s who has abstained from alcohol since a major surgery a few years ago, recently started having a non-alcoholic beer after work from time to time. He said, "When the weather gets hot or I feel stressed, I missed having a cold beer, but I'm glad to have found an alternative," adding, "It has no alcohol, but the coolness and taste remain the same."
Consumers seeking non-alcoholic beer are increasing. This is because a drinking culture focused on enjoyment rather than intoxication is spreading, and people who are not good at drinking alcohol can enjoy it without burden. As the popularity of non-alcoholic beer rises, new product launches are following one after another, accelerating the pace of the alcoholic beverage industry.
According to HiteJinro on the 10th, ‘Hite Zero 0.00’ has surpassed 90 million cans in cumulative sales as of April since its launch in November 2012. In particular, the sales growth rate, which was 3% in 2019 compared to the previous year, increased to 32% in 2020, and jumped to 78% last year, showing strong momentum. This year, sales in the first quarter grew 145% compared to the same period last year, continuing the recent positive trend.
OB Beer’s ‘Cass 0.0’ also exceeded 4 million cans in cumulative online sales by last year since its launch in October 2020. It applies a ‘smart separation method’ that uses the same raw materials and undergoes the same fermentation and maturation process as regular beer, but separates only the alcohol in the final filtration stage, reducing the alcohol content to below 0.05%.
OB Beer 'Cass 0.0'
As non-alcoholic beer gains market response, related product launches are also happening competitively. OB Beer introduced the Belgian wheat beer ‘Hoegaarden Zero’ last month and launched ‘Budweiser Zero’ on the 7th. Qingdao expanded its lineup by releasing a new 500ml can of ‘Qingdao Non-Alcoholic’ on the same day, and craft beer company Jeju Beer will launch ‘Jeju Nuvo 0.5’ next month.
With continuous new product launches, the domestic non-alcoholic beverage market is rapidly expanding. According to market research firm Nielsen Korea, the domestic non-alcoholic beverage market size grew 250% last year compared to the previous year. Sales volume in the first quarter of this year also increased by 205% compared to the same period last year. The industry expects the domestic non-alcoholic beer market, which was around 20 billion KRW last year, to grow to about 200 billion KRW in the future.
The growth of the non-alcoholic beer market is a global trend. Japan, which formed the market by launching non-alcoholic beer since 2009, has expanded the market size to about 80 billion yen (approximately 753.8 billion KRW) with related products released by Kirin, Suntory, Asahi, Sapporo, and others. Non-alcoholic beer accounts for about 5% of the total beer market. In Germany, the birthplace of beer, the non-alcoholic market share also reaches about 8% of the total beer market.
Recently, the growth of non-alcoholic beer is largely attributed to the rapidly changing drinking culture triggered by COVID-19. An industry official explained, "With increased interest in health due to COVID-19 and the spread of solo drinking and home drinking culture, a culture of enjoying light drinking at home instead of heavy drinking is spreading mainly among young people, which seems to be expanding the non-alcoholic beer market."
Additionally, under the Liquor Tax Act, beverages with an alcohol content below 1% are classified as drinks, allowing online sales unlike regular alcoholic beverages, which also appears to have an impact. According to current law, if the alcohol content is 1% or less, it can be labeled as non-alcoholic or alcohol-free. However, if it contains even a tiny amount of alcohol below 0.05%, it is classified as non-alcoholic, and if it contains none at all, it is classified as alcohol-free.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
