E-Malt.com News article: South Korea: Oriental Brewery Co. will replace 1.6 liter pack with 1.8 liter version keeping the same price

Oriental Brewery Co. (OB) said September 10 it will replace the 1.6-liter OB Blue Q-pack (plastic bottle) with a 1.8-liter version without raising the price. The largest-ever beer bottle in Korea will be tagged 3,210 won at delivery from the brewery, the same as the 1.6-lite plastic bottle beer sold by rival Hite Brewery Ltd, The Korea Herald posted September 11.

The 1.8-liter OB Blue Q-pack will be sold around 3,400 won at large discount malls and about 4,300 won at retail shops from this Friday until the year-end, Oriental Brewery said. The company said it could extend the sale throughout 2007 after watching market response.

OB also said September 10 that it will increase the volume of its 355-milliliter canned beer to 400 milliliters without charging more. "Merely cutting prices won't benefit the customers much," said OB chief executive Kim Joon-young in a statement. "Providing extra amounts without changing the price is the only way to substantially benefit them."

Rival Hite downplayed the move as the same old low-price scheme often used by second runners to chase the market leader.

However, the "cheap" strategy worked well in the soju market. Doosan Corp.'s soju market share doubled after it cut the factory price of its "Cheoumcheoreom" soju in February to 730 won per bottle, lower than Jinro Ltd.'s "Chamisul," which is delivered at 800 won from the distiller.

The marketing battle between the nation's two leading beer makers is likely to heat up as Hite's dominance has weakened over the past few months. Hite's share in the beer market dropped from 67 percent in January to 59 percent in June while OB (including the Cass brand) gained six percent to 39 percent, according to data released by the Korea Alcohol & Liquor Industry Association.


13 September, 2006