Craft Beer Brewers See Big Growth Potential In South Korea

Beer has long been a key ingredient of mixed drinks in South Korea, but changing appetites and the extended coronavirus pandemic have turned consumers toward diverse and unique flavors of craft beer, Choi Kyong-ae reported for the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

Photo Insert: Craft beer is creating quite a buzz in South Korea.

Craft beer sales are on the rise, as a growing number of people work from home due to social distancing, and those people increasingly prefer more diverse and tasty beers to existing mass-marketed lagers and ales.

"Before the pandemic, I used to go to bars to have beer with my clients or friends after work. I recently found craft beer tasty and came to enjoy a diverse range of craft beer at my place," Uni Park, a 32-year-old exhibition planner in Seoul, said.

During the past 1 1/2 years, some young people aged between 24-35 years have created a culture of enjoying craft beer purchased at convenience stores while watching Netflix movies and series at their homes, Kim Jin-man, a general manager at the Korea Craft Brewers Association (KCBA), said.

"Imported beer brands became popular in 2015 and 2016, as they provided ale and other diverse beer products. But in recent years, people preferred freshly brewed and even diverse local craft beer to imported beer, which underwent the brewing process sometime before shipment," he said over the phone.

On top of changing demands and the prolonged pandemic, a revision in the liquor tax system also helped boost sales of craft beer in the domestic market. Craft breweries' share of the country's 5 trillion won (US$4.2 billion) beer market rose to more than 2 percent in 2020 from less than 1 percent a year earlier, the KCBA said.

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