CU, Last Year Highball Sales Soared 55%
Chuhai Sales Share 38%
Higher Than Wine 25.4% and Spirits 36%
Released Two Chuhai Types Collaborating with Singer Chu
Highball sales have surpassed those of wine and spirits just about a year after its launch. This is attributed to the spread of diverse drinking cultures, especially among the MZ generation. The distribution industry is also expressing optimism about this trend by continuously launching related new products.
CU announced on the 7th that highball sales surged by an astonishing 553.7% compared to the previous year. Analyzing the sales share changes of wine, spirits, and highball over the past three years with their sales set at 100, CU found that highball’s sales share was only 8.3% in its launch year of 2022 but skyrocketed to 36.3% last year and has steadily risen to 38.6% this year.
Meanwhile, wine, which had a solid consumer base, dropped from 47.2% in 2022 to 26.5% in 2023 and further down to 25.4% in January this year. Spirits also showed a decline from 44.4% in 2022 to 37.3% in 2023 and 36.0% in January this year. Although the absolute sales of both wine and spirits have increased, their relative shares have decreased due to the significant sales growth of highball.
This is thanks to the post-COVID home drinking trend, which has greatly increased demand for enjoying various types of alcohol. In particular, the consumer base seeking low-alcohol beverages under 10 degrees has grown, shifting demand massively toward ready-to-drink (RTD) highballs that are easy to consume.
The popularity of highball is led by the 20s and 30s MZ generation. According to CU’s data on the age distribution of highball buyers last year, those in their 20s accounted for 44.0%, and those in their 30s made up 35.9%, totaling 80%. Other age groups included 14.4% in their 40s, 5.1% in their 50s, and 0.6% aged 60 and above.
Riding this wave of popularity, highballs collaborated with celebrities have also appeared. CU is introducing two types of ‘CHUU-High,’ created in collaboration with singer ‘Chuu (CHUU)’ and the liquor manufacturer Buruguru.
CHUU-High is a highball made by adding fruit juice and carbonated water to diluted soju, giving it a sweet flavor. In Japan, CHU-Hi has dedicated sections in major consumption channels such as supermarkets and convenience stores, reflecting its popularity among young people. The new product ‘CHUU-High (Alc 5%)’ will be released in two flavors: peach, the most popular flavor of Japanese CHU-Hi, reinterpreted to suit Korean tastes, and lychee, a sweet flavor introduced for the first time in Korea.
Jang Juhyun, MD of the liquor team at BGF Retail, said, “The mixed drink culture represented by highball has become a trend among the MZ generation, changing the landscape of liquor sales in convenience stores recently. As differentiated products collaborated with celebrities favored by the main consumer base are also being launched, this trend centered on highball is expected to continue throughout this year.”
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