OB to introduce new beverage for local drinkers

By Choi Sung-jin

Years ago, a foreign journalist in Seoul shook the domestic brewing industry by saying that South Korean beers tasted even worse than the beer brewed in North Korea.

“The poor reputation of Korean beer that still lingers today is due to the lack of changes in the local beer market long dominated by the two major pale lagers, Cass and Hite,” said Frederico Freire, CEO of Oriental Brewery. “Pale lagers have mild fragrances and lots of carbonic acid. Their tastes are refreshing but light.”

In a special lecture at Korea University last week, Freire said the domestic beer market must make some changes. Industry sources said OB is pushing to release a new fermented alcoholic beverage this month, and also begin importing craft beers.

“The global market trend is going toward craft beers,” Freire said, referring to diverse beers typically crafted by small regional breweries. AB Inbev, the parent company of OB, has acquired a few craft beer breweries, including Goose Island Beer Company and Golden Road Brewing, between 2011 and 2015. OB also recently held a tasting event of craft beers for domestic beer distributors.

OB will also release a new fermented alcoholic beverage, regarded as similar to beer but distinct from it. In Korea, Carlsberg released a hard cider product, Somersby in 2012, and Baesangmyun Brewery also put to market a fermented drink, R4, a rice beer, later.

Freire said he would maintain the taste and characteristics of Cass, the No. 1 beer in Korea, even after releasing the new product. “Cass is a beer that best suits the Korean drinking custom of mixing liquors with beer,” he said.

The Brazilian-born IT expert, who joined AB Inbev in 1996, recalled his experiences as a trainee. “When a beer-brewing machine broke down, its controller said, ‘my machine,’ not ‘the machine,’ has a problem,” Freire said. “I came to realize the importance of the sense of ownership.”

He said owners take the responsibility for their jobs and don’t blame others if a problem occurs, and that constitutes the core momentum for corporate growth.

A company can succeed in foreign markets only when its corporate culture can harmonize with the local culture, said the CEO of Korea’s largest beer brewery, who has taken the Korean name of Kim Do-hoon.

Freire said that he worked in China for five years but that when he came here he learned that Korea is completely different from China.

“At first I was surprised to see people in Korea fill the cups of their fellow drinkers holding the bottle with both hands,” he said. “Now, I pour drinks holding the bottle with both hands, too."