South Korea: Lotte Liquor to release new line of beer

Lotte Liquor said on May 24 that it would be releasing a new line of beer on June 1, in the hope of finding growth in a stagnant domestic beer market, The Korea Herald reported.

“The beer market in Korea has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.9 percent between 2014 and 2016, but much of that growth has been fuelled by imported beers,” said Baek Seung-sun, head of marketing for the new Fitz Super Clear beer, at a press conference at Lotte Hotel World in southern Seoul on May 24.

Fitz, the second line of original beers from Lotte Liquor following premium beer brand Kloud, hopes to break preconceptions that Korean beers are bland and tasteless, and fuel sales in the low-cost standard beer market.

“The beer was developed with the concept of being ‘clear,’ of being light and having a clean aftertaste,” explained Vice Chairman Lee Jae-hyuk, who heads Lotte Group’s food business unit. “Many other beers have tried to create a dry taste, but we wanted something clear. A beer that starts rich, but immediately clears up and leaves the original taste to the last drop.”

To create this fresh aftertaste, Fitz was created with German Herkules hop and a so-called “super yeast” that increases fermentation to reduce aftertaste. Priced the same as market leaders Cass of AB InBev and Hite of Hite Jinro, Fitz is Lotte Liquor’s first foray into the standard beer sector.

When asked about the possibility that Fitz would eat into Kloud‘s existing market share, Lotte Liquor President Lee Jong-hoon said that it was not a concern for the company because the two beers targeted different consumers.

“Kloud is a premium beer, and is sold in channels like high-end restaurants, hotels and golf clubs. Fitz is designed for a mass market, and will pursue different channels and marketing strategies,” Lee said.

To push Fitz’s sales, Lotte Liquor will be completing construction on its second beer factory in July, creating a production capacity of 300,000 kiloliters in time for the summer beer season. Lotte Liquor said that it hopes to reach 70 billion won ($62.1 million) in sales for Fitz by the end of 2017.

22 May, 2017