"The Power of Premium" Ilpum Jinro Smooth Sailing on the Wave of Upgrading

Last Year Ilpum Jinro Sales Up 67% YoY
Sales Growth Driven by Increased Demand for Premium Liquor

Riding the wave of premiumization sweeping through the recent liquor market, HiteJinro's premium distilled soju, ‘Ilpum Jinro,’ continues to sail smoothly.

According to HiteJinro on the 16th, sales of Ilpum Jinro last year increased by 67% compared to the same period the previous year. Despite the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, Ilpum Jinro grew 13% compared to 2019 as home drinking, solo drinking, and the distilled liquor craze began to emerge. In 2021, when the product name was changed from ‘Ilpum Jinro 1924’ to ‘Ilpum Jinro’ and a full rebranding was carried out, it achieved a high growth rate of 78%. Last year, despite the high growth of the previous year, the demand for distilled soju continued to increase, maintaining a strong growth trend.

Ilpum Jinro is a distilled soju created in 2007 by HiteJinro using long-aged base liquor stored in thousands of oak barrels left over from the acquisition of Jinro in 2005. Later, due to rapid sales depleting the base liquor inventory, in 2018 it was relaunched as ‘Ilpum Jinro 1924’ using distilled base liquor aged for six months to appeal to the mass market, and in 2021 it was renewed as Ilpum Jinro. A distinctive feature of Ilpum Jinro is that the early and late distilled base liquors are discarded, using only the middle base liquor, which has excellent aroma and flavor. It is praised for its clean and smooth taste achieved by removing off-flavors and impurities through a freezing filtration method applied to 100% pure rice distilled base liquor.

The recent smooth sailing of Ilpum Jinro is attributed to consumers’ changed perception of alcohol. As alcohol has become one of the means to express personal taste, demand for ‘good alcohol’ has increased, and attention to the relatively higher-priced distilled soju market is also rising. Ilpum Jinro is understood to be achieving concrete results by combining the increased interest in premium liquors with the recent trend of preferring clean-tasting drinks. A HiteJinro official explained, "As consumers’ drinking spectrum diversifies, interest in premium liquors has increased," adding, "Post-endemic, consumption of distilled soju centered on Ilpum Jinro is also extending into entertainment channels."

HiteJinro plans to lead market expansion by focusing on improving accessibility so that consumers can approach distilled soju more easily and comfortably. A HiteJinro official said, "As awareness of distilled soju improves and the drinking base expands, the market will grow steadily, leading to demand for quality products," adding, "We will continue activities that allow consumers to easily purchase and enjoy distilled soju in line with various drinking trends such as on the rocks and highball."

On the 9th, the company also released its first video advertisement since the product launch in 2007, under the concept of ‘The Essence of 99 Years of Distilled Liquor.’ This is interpreted as a strong intention to firmly secure leadership in the growing distilled soju market. The company explained that the advertisement incorporates 99 years of know-how from ingredient selection to the manufacturing process to emphasize Ilpum Jinro’s uniqueness.

Additionally, HiteJinro plans to aggressively expand sales of ‘Jinro 1924 Heritage,’ which debuted last year as a ‘super premium distilled liquor.’ Jinro 1924 Heritage, launched in August last year, received a hot market response, selling out its initial production of 15,000 bottles within a month. However, due to the early sell-out of the initial supply, the company faced some difficulties in providing additional stock, so this year it plans to improve consumer accessibility by increasing production volume.