The Industry's First Local Soju Price Discount Event
Bottle Price Reduced by 100 Won, PET by 300 Won
Total of 11 Items from 7 Brands
CU will lower the prices of regional soju brands representing all provinces across the country throughout May.
Convenience store CU, operated by BGF Retail, announced on the 2nd that it will hold a price discount event in collaboration with soju manufacturers representing various regions.
The products featured in this event include seven brands: ▲Chungbuk Soju's 'Siwonhan Cheongpung' from Chungcheongbuk-do ▲Seonyang Soju's 'Ije Urin' from Chungcheongnam-do ▲Bohae Brewery's 'Ipsaeju' from Jeollanam-do ▲Geumbokju's 'Matinneun Cham' from Gyeongsangbuk-do ▲Muhak's 'Joeundei' from Gyeongsangnam-do ▲Daesun Brewery's 'Daesun' from Busan ▲and Hallasan Soju's 'Hallasan' from Jeju-do.
There are a total of 11 discounted items. Among them, ▲Daesun ▲Ipsaeju ▲Joeundei ▲Matinneun Cham apply discounts to both 360ml bottled soju and 640ml PET soju. Siwonhan Cheongpung is discounted only for bottled soju, while Hallasan and Ije Urin are discounted only for PET soju.
In this discount event, approximately 10% off is applied, reducing the 360ml bottled soju by 100 KRW and the 640ml PET soju by up to 300 KRW. Bottled soju prices drop from 1,900 KRW to 1,800 KRW, and PET soju prices from 3,300 KRW to 3,000 KRW. However, each product can only be purchased at the discounted price at CU stores located within the respective administrative regions.
This discount event is part of efforts to lower prices and promote regional soju, marking the first-ever regional soju discount event held in collaboration with local liquor manufacturers in convenience store history. CU explained that this quick response came after the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy urged the distribution industry to cooperate in stabilizing prices.
CU focused on lowering consumers' perceived cost of living through this discount event, as soju ranks second in sales proportion at convenience stores after beer. Additionally, with the increase in travelers and outings in May, sales of regional soju are expected to rise.
Co-prosperity with regional soju companies is also an anticipated effect. Recently, consumers' choices in alcoholic beverages have diversified, and regional soju companies have been hit by the decline in local populations. Currently, nationwide soju brands hold about 80% of the domestic retail market share. Looking at CU's sales growth rates from January to April this year compared to the previous year, nationwide soju sales increased by 10.8%, while regional soju sales grew by only 5.0%.
Through this differentiated promotion of regional soju discounts, CU plans to contribute to price stabilization while actively promoting regional soju to foster co-prosperity with local companies.
Hwang Cheol-jung, MD of the Liquor Team at BGF Retail, said, "As the liquor market diversifies and the position of soju, known as the national drink, narrows, we aim to help expand the market and revitalize the regional economy through this regional soju discount event. CU will continue to pursue efforts to stabilize prices based on its industry-leading business competitiveness."
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