Imported beer outperforms soju

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 1, 2014, 16:58 Updated : April 9, 2015, 09:28

 

Sales of imported beer at E-Mart, South Korea's largest retailer, exceeded sales of soju, the country's well-known alcoholic beverage, during the period between July 1 and Nov. 28 for the first time in its history, the retailer said on Monday.

Foreign-made beer sales rose 8.5 percent to 28.8 billion won during the period from the same period of last year, compared with 28.0 billion won for soju sales, E-Mart said. On the other hand, locally-made beer sales dropped 4.9 percent from a year earlier.

The sales gap between imported beer and soju will widen as sales of foreign-made beer used to rise further during the year-end season, officials at the retailer said.

As a result, foreign-made beer's market share at E-Mart soared 4.9 percentage points to 16.6 percent during the July 1-Nov. 28 period from a year earlier, while soju's share increased merely 1.7 percentage points to 16.2 percent, E-Mart said. South Korean-made beer took up a 30.7 percent share, down 3 percentage points from a year earlier.   

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