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Sun, January 29, 2023 | 17:22
Business
Changing tastes challenge to OB, Hite
"진한 맛을 보여 주마" 국산맥주들의 반격
Posted : 2013-08-23 15:30
Updated : 2013-08-23 15:30
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Local beer brands introduce ale beers

By Choi Kyong-ae

Hite Jinro's Queen's Ale
Hite Jinro's Queen's Ale
Changes in consumer tastes often force companies not to settle for the status quo but to reorganize or overhaul their businesses. Now it's the turn of brewers.

Korea's two biggest beer makers ― Oriental Brewery and Hite Jinro ― are both planning to add an ale-type beer to their lager only portfolios in order to capitalize on growing demand for ale, the companies said.

Hite Jinro said Thursday that it will introduce Queen's Ale, the first of its kind launched by a local beer major, early next month in the domestic market to compete against multinational beer brands that have ale sales on the rise.

As consumers begin to feel uncomfortable with the fact that OB and Hite Jinro have a duopoly on the domestic beer market and only produce lager, the two beer firms had no other option but to diversify their lineup in order to sustain their lead, analysts say.

The move was also triggered by an article published in November. Daniel Tudor, a correspondent who was then based in Seoul for the Economist, wrote that South Korean beer is so boring that "brewing remains just about the only useful activity at which North Korea beats the South. The North's Taedonggang Beer tastes surprisingly good."

Beers fall into two broad categories: ales produced by top-fermenting yeasts and lagers made with bottom-fermenting yeasts. Generally, lagers are attenuated, cleaner, rounder and less fruity than ales. Ale-type beers include Hoeggaarden and Guinness, while lager-type beers include Budweiser, Heineken and Krombacher.

"Until recently, consumers have been exposed only to Korean-made lagers that they believe go well with spicy or salty local foods. But they increasingly want diverse beer options to choose from," Hite Jinro spokeswoman Nho Eun-jung told The Korea Times.

So Hite Jinro, the country's second-biggest brewer by sales after OB, partnered with Alectia, a Denmark-based beer laboratory, to develop its first ale beer in the past three years, said the spokeswoman.

The decision comes after the company suffered declines in sales because a growing number of consumers prefer foreign brands such as Asahi, Heineken and Budweiser to local brands due to the taste variety despite higher prices.

In the six months ended in June 30, Hite Jinro posted a 50 percent drop in net profit at 35.99 billion won ($32 million) from a year earlier. Its sales fell 6.8 percent to 913.82 billion won during the same period.

Fed up with the "monotonous" taste of lagers available at every corner of the country, Koreans begin to look for something different, Han Kook-hee, a beverage analyst with Woori Investment & Securities, said. "Domestic beer brands should have taken care of changing appetites of customers earlier. But as the saying goes, better late than never."

These days, young generations put greater value on the taste of beer and many of them refuse to take a bomb shot, or poktanju, during office dinners. The changing trend is also weighing down sales of beer. Poktanju is a mixture of lager beer and soju, which is consumed in one or two gulps. Soju is a Korean distilled rice liquor similar to vodka.

OB also has a plan to launch an ale beer in the fourth quarter to woo particularly young consumers who are more exposed to ale-type beers while traveling abroad or studying overseas, OB spokesman Oh Young-seop said. But he didn't provide details of the plan.

Making competition tougher in the home market, Lotte Liquor, a unit of Lotte Group, is building a domestic facility to enter the beer market in the first half of next year.

"It is part of our long-term plan to transform Lotte Liquor into a comprehensive beverage company. But we have yet to decide on whether to produce an ale beer or a lager," Lotte Liquor spokesman Yoon Soo-han said.

Lotte Liquor's current lineup includes soju, whiskey and refined rice wine. Hite Jinro and OB both produce beer and soju.

In another major catalyst urging big brewers to change, the government offered to cut taxes on micro breweries such as 7brau by 20 percent under a revised law to help them compete better against bigger rivals such as OB, Hite Jinro and countless import brands.

"The revisions will allow micro breweries to sell their beer to stores as well as individuals. It will provide a level playing field for big and small beer makers in the long term," Hwang Dae-chul, senior deputy director at the National Tax Service's Corporate Taxation Bureau, said.

Currently, micro breweries are allowed to sell beer they make only to individuals, not to commercial shops such as discount stores and convenience stores, Hwang said.

The revised liquor tax law awaits approval from the National Assembly in December. If approved, the eased regulations will take effect from January in favor of mom-and-pop beer brands.

In the domestic beer market that reached 4.23 trillion won last year, foreign beer brands took a share of 5.4 percent, up from 4.5 percent a year earlier, showed NTS data. But domestic brands' share remained unchanged at 95 percent during the same period.

Seven out of 10 beer products sold globally are lagers and the remaining three are ales. In Korea, more than nine out of 10 are lagers, said beer makers. Simply put, there is a huge growth potential for the ale beer market.

"It won't take long before Korea will catch up with the "global consumption level" as local companies have joined their foreign rivals in the ale beer market," said the beverage analyst.


"진한 맛을 보여 주마" 국산맥주들의 반격

국내 맥주회사들이 '맛 없는 맥주'오명 씻기에 나섰다. '밍밍하고 싱겁다'는 평가 속에 수입산 맥주가 빠르게 내수 시장을 잠식하자, 국내 대형 맥주사들은 지금까지 만들지 않았던 새로운 맥주를 만들기 시작했다.

하이트진로는 다음달 5일 국내 대형맥주 제조사 가운데 처음으로 '에일'맥주인 '퀸즈에일'(Queen's Ale)을 선보인다고 22일 밝혔다.

맥주는 효모를 맥주통 위 아래 중 어디에서 발효시키느냐에 따라 에일맥주와 라거맥주로 나뉜다. 맥주통 위쪽에서 고온(섭씨 18~25도)으로 발효시킨 것이 에일맥주로 도수가 높고, 맛은 무거우면서 걸쭉하다. 

에일맥주는 전 세계 맥주시장에서 약 30% 비중을 차지하고 있으나, 국내 대형맥주사들은 라거 맥주만을 만들어왔다. 중소맥주 제조사인 세븐브로이와 제주맥주 및 하우스맥주(술집에서 자체 시설로 만든 맥주)에서만 일부 에일 맥주를 생산해왔을 뿐이다.

하지만 국내에도 진하고 무거운 맛을 선호하는 맥주마니아들이 늘어나면서 에일 맥주 수요도 빠르게 커지고 있는 상황. 흑맥주의 대명사격인 아일랜드의 기네스, 골프장과 고급식당을 중심으로 두터운 애호가 층을 확보하고 있는 독일산 에딩거, 그리고 벨기에산 호가든 등 등 에일맥주들이 국내에서 최근 선풍적 인기를 끌고 있다. 

이에 따라 국내 맥주사들도 가볍고 약한 라거 맥주 일변도에서 벗어나, 진하고 무거운 에일 맥주를 통해 수입산과 정면승부를 선택하게 됐다.

하이트진로의 퀸즈에일은 하이트진로가 세계 최고 수준인 맥주연구소 덴마크 알렉시아와 기술제휴를 체결하고 3년간의 연구 끝에 개발한 연갈색의 페일에일 맥주다. 100% 보리(맥아)를 원료로 3단계에 걸친 아로마 호프 추가공법인 '트리플 호핑 프로세스'를 적용, 페일에일 특유의 과실향을 살렸다. 또 탱ㄱ크에서 갓 뽑은 듯한 신선한 에일을 즐길 수 있도록 비열처리공법을 적용했다.

출고가격은 맥아의 맛과 홉의 향이 균형감을 이룬 블론드 타입은 1,900원(330㎖·병), 홉의 함량을 높여 쌉싸름한 맛을 살린 엑스트라비터 타입은 2,100원으로 기존 수입맥주와 비슷한 수준이다. 김인규 하이트진로 사장은 '퀸즈에일은 국내 소비자들이 에일맥주를 더욱 신선하게 즐길 수 있도록 개발과정에 심혈을 기울였다'며 '수입맥주와 품질경쟁에서 국내 주류기업의 자존심을 회복할 것'이라고 강조했다.
Emailcka@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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