Economic Slowdown Hikes Liquor Sales
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Middle-aged office worker Kang Min gets a 600,000 won, about $600, allowance from his wife every month. The budget breakdown is simple, he says. It goes either of two ways: alcohol or non-alcohol.
Spending about 30 percent of his cash on drinking, Kang says he finds it tough trying to cut back on his biggest expense.
``Stress factors are plenty these days,'' says the junior manager, who works for a medium-sized trading firm. ``I, at least, want to get a good buzz whenever I want to.''
Kang isn't alone, as the latest spike in alcohol sales demonstrates that neither the sluggish economy nor skyrocketing living costs can keep Koreans from their drink. Perhaps, conventional wisdom says, an economic slowdown pushes people to drink more.
According to the Korea Alcohol & Liquor Industry Association, Monday, sales of all types of alcohol ― from soju (Korean liquor) to beer and whiskey ― have climbed an average of 2 percent this year.
Beer saw the biggest jump of 4.7 percent, followed by soju (1 percent) and whiskey (0.6 percent). This was rare growth for the whisky business, which does not often see an upward trend during tough economic times.
By firms, Jinro and Hite Brewery, which are the nation's No. 1 soju maker and beer seller, respectively, enjoyed the biggest sales leap through the months of January-May.
Observers say worsening stress over thinning wallets and the recent political confusion surrounding U.S. beef imports are the biggest reasons people are resorting to this happy pill.
The majority of companies saw comparable growth but Doosan Liquor BG, the second-largest maker of soju, was a rare big player, seeing sales slip by almost 3 percent.
Industry experts say that beer sales have been on a moderate rise since 2005 thanks to many new specialized drinks, such as fiber-rich beer, that meet the demands of health-conscious consumers. According to the National Tax Service (NTS), beer consumption per head rose from 101 bottles in 2005 to 107 last year.
Soju is typically the best-selling alcohol during an economic slump, a trend that has been demonstrated in the past, particularly the 1997-1998 financial crisis.
``We'll probably see a steeper sales growth of soju over the next couple months, considering its comparatively cheap cost,'' said an official of the liquor association.
According to a 2007 NTS data, beer accounts for 60.3 percent of the country's alcohol market, followed by soju (29.3 percent) and whisky (1.1 percent).