Wine tops soju in sales

Lotte Mart reported Sunday that sales of wine at its stores have surpassed those of soju and other liquors for the first time ever. Korea Times file

Lotte Mart, the discount chain of retail giant Lotte, said Sunday that its sales of wine exceeded those of soju, the traditional Korean distilled spirit, this year for the first time, by 4.6 percent as of Dec. 9.

Wine sales, which accounted for less than 30 percent of soju just 10 years ago, have drastically increased in Korea.

The discount franchise attributed the growth in sales to the country’s free trade agreements (FTA) with wine producing countries, which allow consumers to enjoy wines at more affordable prices.

“Overall, the sales of wine have been growing, which we believe shows the change in drinking culture here,” an official from Lotte Mart said. “FTAs with Europe and Chile seem to have accelerated the change, I think.”

Korea’s FTA with Europe and the United States went into effect in July, 2011 and this March, respectively.

He expected that more wines will be sold as the demand for wine traditionally surges around this time of year due to Christmas and year-end parties.

The ratio of the sales of wine to those of soju at Lotte stood only at 27.6 percent in 2000 but it jumped to 58 percent in 2006 and 93.7 percent last year.

Wine is the only kind of alcoholic beverage whose popularity has been constantly on the rise over the past few years.

The sales of liquor at the discount store dropped 2.2 percent this year, mainly lead by the decline in sales of soju at 7.6 percent and other traditional liquors at 9.4 percent. Only the sales of wine surged 5.2 percent.

Collapse of ‘makgeolli’ frenzy

Another outstanding loser in this year’s alcohol war is “makgeolli,” Korea’s traditional rice wine _ Lotte Mart said that its sales in 2012 dropped by 10.2 percent as of Dec. 9 from a year before.

The double-digit decrease of the milky white alcohol contrasts to its popularity in the mid to late 2010s when a mounting number of young adults here consumed it.

Makgeolli had been the go-to alcohol for ordinary Koreans for so long thanks to its rich taste and affordable price before its popularity waned in modern times due to Western beer and spirits.

Koreans found a fresh allure to makgeolli midway through the first decade of the new millennium after producers started to use better quality ingredients to overcome its the terrible hangovers people suffered the day after a drinking session.

Yet, the frenzy for the cloudy wine showed signs of subduing of late amid the rising popularity of Western wines.

Also of note is that the Lotte Mart statistics disprove the conventional wisdom that sales of hard liquor tend to rise in an economic slump as people try to forget their difficulties though drinking.

In addition to soju producers, whisky companies also struggled to find their feet during the past few years. For this year, the latter’s shipments rose a mere 1.2 percent.

“The number of people who resort to spirits has plunged. The country’s notorious year-end parties are no more just about drinking sprees. In particular, youngsters hate such a culture,” a Seoul analyst said.

“Plus, the belief is being negated that sales of alcohols rise in the year of presidential elections. As far as alcoholic beverages are concerned, hard liquors are fast losing their footing.”

In 2002 when the 16th presidential election took place, the sales of beer rose 2.4 percent from the previous year before substantially contracting the next year. In the next election year, 2007, sales of beer jumped 3.7 percent from 2006.

In comparison, the shipment of beer dipped 0.4 percent this year from 2011, according to Lotte Mart. <The Korea Times/Kim Tae-jong>