South Korea: Hite Jinro struggling to meet demand for its newest beer Terra

Hite Jinro’s new beer Terra is flying off the shelves, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported on May 18.

It’s been less than two months since Terra was first released on March 21, but the company is already struggling to meet demand.

One of the reasons Hite Jinro is failing to brew as much beer as needed is because the delivery of some ingredients has been delayed. The company said it expects the situation to normalize next week.

In the first 50 days after the beer - which uses barley grown in a clean and unpolluted environment - was released, 1.3 million boxes were sold. That’s the equivalent to 39 million 300-milliliter bottles (10.1 fluid ounces) and the most beer of a single brand that has ever been sold in 50 days.

According to Hite Jinro, as of April 29, it had sold 1.05 million boxes, also setting another record of selling more than one million boxes in the shortest period. That’s same as selling 9.4 bottles every second.

Other Hite Jinro’s beer brands, such as Hite, Max and Dry Finish, were able to sell 200,000 to 300,000 boxes in a month. To meet the growing demand, Hite Jinro had to more than double its production after two weeks while holding back on other new products.

“Sales of 500-mililiter Terra beers have surged in places like restaurants and bars,” said a Hite Jinro official. “The number of customers exclusively ordering Terra is rising.”

Hite Jinro used to hold the largest market share in the beer industry with the popularity of its flagship beer Hite, but lost the top spot to rival Oriental Brewery’s Cass in 2010. Hite Jinro has struggled to regain its market dominance and suffered a deficit in its beer business since then. The brewery is banking on Terra to take it back to No. 1.

19 May, 2019