S.Korea sees boom in domestic demand for zero-sugar soju

A "zero-sugar" craze has emerged on the South Korean market for the country's traditional alcoholic drink soju.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage said its diet brand Chum Churum Saero, loosely translated as "Like the First Time New," which was launched in September last year, saw sales of 100 million 360-ml bottles in its first seven months. HiteJinro Co., whose longstanding bestseller Jinro underwent renewal as a sugar-free product early this year in response to the boom, is also defending its domestic market lead through aggressive marketing.

Lotte Chilsung on Wednesday said cumulative sales volume of Saero exceeded 100 million bottles as of Tuesday. “About 43 million adults in our country drank an average of 2.3 Saero bottles each over the seven-month period,” a company source said.

Unlike conventional soju, Saero has an alternative sweetener instead of fructose and creates a unique taste through the addition of distilled soju. Lotte Chilsung also preemptively applied on Saero the required labeling of the nutrition and ingredients for alcoholic beverages introduced this year.

After selling 6.8 million bottles in its first month of launch, Saero saw cumulative sales pass 50 million bottles in late January this year. The securities industry said the brand's sales in the first quarter exceeded an estimated monthly average of 9 billion won ($6.7 million).

"The spread of the 'healthy pleasure' trend among Generation MZ (a demographic comprising millennials and Generation Z) of managing health through fun raised demand for Saero products," a Lotte Chilsung source said.

The company will expand its product lineup by launching next month a large 640-ml version in a plastic bottle.

Industry sources say soju market leader Hite Jinro has a share of 60%-65% and Lotte Chilsung about 15%.

"If Saero sales grow to meet the company's target of 130 billion won this year, (Lotte Chilsung) could secure see its market share rise around five percentage points.” Hana Financial Group analyst Shim Eun-joo said.

In response to the Saero boom, HiteJinro launched Jinro Pink Edition and Thick Shop, a pop-up store for goods, to defend its market lead through more aggressive marketing. Its new Jinro soju has lower alcohol by volume of 16% to match Saero's and 10 fewer calories of 320.

HiteJinro said cumulative sales of Jinro in the first quarter reached 104 million bottles. "We plan to raise product supply to non-metropolitan areas where we have relatively low market share," a company source said.

Write to Hun-Hyoung Ha at hhh@hankyung.com