[Exclusive] Pulmuone Saemmul Also Raises Prices... Bottled Water Follows Processed Foods in Domino Price Hike

Pulmuone Samul, 5% Price Increase on Bottled Water from March 1
Jeju Samdasoo, Icis, and Pyeongchang Water Join Price Hike
Rising Costs Drive Continued Food and Beverage Price Increases

Since the beginning of this year, prices of processed foods and dining out have been rising, and bottled water has now joined the price hike trend. This means that the prices of most food and beverage items are becoming more expensive.

According to the industry on the 22nd, Pulmuone's affiliate Pulmuone Sammul plans to raise the prices of its bottled water products, Pulmuone Sammul and the new bottled water product Pulmuone Sammul Water Routine launched last year, by 5% each starting from the 1st of next month.

A Pulmuone representative said, "We internally tried to absorb the factors for the price increase, but due to the sharp rise in raw material and logistics costs, we decided to raise prices minimally."

The bottled water industry has been seeing full-scale price increases since the beginning of this year. Starting with Lotte Chilsung Beverage's Icis in December last year, Jeju Development Corporation's Jeju Samdasoo decided to raise prices for the first time in five years this year, followed by Haitai htb's Gangwon Pyeongchang Water and Pulmuone Sammul, which also decided to raise prices consecutively. Icis raised the ex-factory price of Icis 8.0 by 8.4% in December last year, and from the 1st of next month, it plans to raise prices of Icis 8.0 and Icis Eco sold at convenience stores by 11.1% to 15.7% depending on the volume. Jeju Samdasoo implemented an average price increase of 9.8% based on ex-factory prices. Gangwon Pyeongchang Water raised prices by 7% to 7.9% by volume last month.

Other bottled water sellers such as Nongshim (Baeksansu), Hite Jinro Beverage (Seoksu), and Dongwon F&B (Dongwon Sammul) have stated that they have no plans to raise prices yet, but since market leader Samdasoo has already increased prices and others are following suit, it is highly likely that these companies and others will sequentially raise prices as well. As of 2021, there are 60 manufacturers and 394 products in the domestic bottled water market. Jeju Samdasoo holds the highest market share at around 40%, followed by Icis at 13-14%, and Baeksansu at 7-8% annually.

The main reason for the price increases in the bottled water industry is the sharp rise in overall costs such as labor, logistics, and raw materials. Bottled water prices are subject to an open price system, meaning the final seller can set the price, so prices may vary depending on the point of sale.

Before bottled water, multiple items including food and beverages and dining out saw simultaneous price hikes starting early this year. After April, due to increases in liquor tax and bottle costs, a domino effect of price hikes is expected to continue in the alcoholic beverage industry.

An industry insider said, "For daily necessities, raising prices is a sensitive issue due to consumer backlash, but due to rising overall costs, price adjustments are inevitable. Since the costs involved in the manufacturing process continue to rise, price increases across all product categories are expected to continue this year as well."