Hwayo and NongHyup Jointly Develop 'Premium Soju Using Local Rice'

Signing of MOU for Joint Development of Premium Soju Using Regional Rice

Premium distilled liquor Hwayo announced on the 15th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NongHyup Economic Holdings to jointly develop a premium distilled soju made from locally sourced rice in order to promote and expand the consumption of domestic rice.

The signing ceremony took place on the 10th at the NongHyup Central Association headquarters, attended by Park Seo-hong, Head of Agricultural Economics, and Jo Hee-kyung, CEO of Hwayo, among others. Through this agreement, the two companies agreed to actively cooperate to achieve joint goals including ▲development and sales of premium distilled soju using regional rice ▲mutual cooperation to expand the domestic distilled soju market size ▲strengthening marketing in the distilled liquor business sector to increase domestic rice consumption.

About 700g of rice is used to produce 1 liter of distilled soju (based on 25% alcohol content). An increase in the consumption of distilled soju made from domestic rice can directly contribute to expanding the use of domestic rice, and by researching and developing new products optimized for regional rice varieties, it will also be possible to supply consumers with high-quality food products.

Hwayo plans to develop distilled soju by region and rice variety based on over 20 years of accumulated know-how and excellent technical skills. NongHyup will support Hwayo’s new product development and promote sales through promotional and consumption stimulation events at stores such as Hanaro Mart. They also announced plans to actively support the export of our premium distilled soju to overseas markets in connection with the K-food wave.

Jo Hee-kyung, CEO of Hwayo, stated, "With the responsibility of leading the domestic distilled soju market, we will research and produce distilled soju made from high-quality regional rice." She added, "Through mid- to long-term cooperation with NongHyup, we will focus on enhancing the value of domestic rice within the Korean liquor industry."