InterviewCraft cider brewer defies odds in Korea's soju-dominated market

Dancing Cider CEO Lee Dae-ro poses among the company's fermentation tanks inside a manufacturing plant in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province in this 2023 photo. Courtesy of Dancing Cider

CHUNGJU, North Chungcheong Province — Korea is a tough market for ciders. Over 80 percent of the country’s liquor market is soju and beer, while the rest is mostly driven by makgeolli (Korean traditional rice alcohol), wine and whisky. In this competitive environment, ciders are a niche market.

Lee Dae-ro, CEO of Dancing Cider, a craft cider brewery started in 2018 in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, keeps his chin up despite difficulties in surviving a market where he's one of only a handful of cider-makers. It's hard to stand out in the industry, which is dominated by large-size firms like HiteJinro, Oriental Brewery and Lotte Chilsung.

“The liquor market here is really a playground for the big boys, not just for their own brands but also the major global brands they import. It’s easy for them to expand their business by acquiring small breweries, sometimes even by ignoring legally binding contracts,” said Lee in his interview with The Korea Times.

“There's a simple reason why ciders are not popular in Korea. Large firms don’t invest in them.”

The global gastronomic trend away from drinking has also taken a toll on Lee’s business. He was shocked to see CJ Olive Young taking out wines off the shelves last year, as liquors are being replaced with healthier products like protein drinks and vitamin supplements.

Dancing Cider's bottled ciders / Courtesy of Dancing Cider

The Korean taxation system has proved difficult for Lee as well. Under the country’s “ad valorem tax,” a system that levies taxes based on a product’s factory price, Lee pays the equivalent of 30 percent of the factory value of his ciders and 72 percent of distilled products as liquor tax. The government takes another 10 percent on ciders and 30 percent on distilled products for an education tax.

“Taxes here just don't make sense compared to other countries where they levy based on alcohol content, not price. It’s difficult for most small- and medium-size liquor companies here to make a profit. Many of them go out of business,” Lee said.

Despite the hurdles, Lee wants to sustain Dancing Cider, which he believes is the only remaining cider business in Korea with a long-term future. For his affordable ciders, priced under 6,000 won ($3.89) per small bottle and 19,000 won per large bottle, he uses the highest quality apples he can acquire from local regions, equipment imported from China, Germany and Italy, and techniques he learned from in Lewiston, Maine, where he worked during an American cider boom in the 2010s. His ciders have won more than 50 awards in Korea, the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

“We increased our capacity and production specifications to meet rising demand. Now we distribute to some 600 restaurants nationwide and export to Hong Kong and Singapore,” Lee said.

“We’ll launch a new tea drink brand in August. We will manufacture tea drinks for other companies as an original equipment manufacturer, just as we’ve been doing with ciders.”