After 'No Japan' boycott for 2 years, Korean beers replace Japanese brands

Seoul [South Korea], August 17 (ANI/Global Economic): The boycott of Japanese products, which began in July 2019 with the Japanese government's export control, changed the sales of convenience stores' can beer.
Even now, two years after the boycott, the convenience store industry continues to decline in sales of Japanese beer, so orders are almost cut off.
The industry analyzed that it is not because of the boycott, but is because Korean domestic craft beer products, which has well targeted young people's consumption trend, has gained popularity.
According to the convenience store industry on the 15th, sales of Japanese beer are decreasing every year at GS25. In the first half of 2020, it was -90.2 per cent year-on-year, and -USD 91.2 in the first half of this year.
An official of GS25 said, "The order trend is also similar to the sales trend. The amount of Japanese beer orders has decreased significantly."
CU's sales of Japanese beer declined 1.3 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, before the boycott, but in the second half of 2019, sales dropped every month. It significantly dropped to -88.5 per cent in August 2019, -92.2 per cent in September, -91.7 per cent in October, -93.1 per cent in November, and -93.8 per cent in December 2019.
In the first half of 2020, it was -96.1 per cent year-on-year and continued to decline with -13.1 per cent in the first half of this year. However, overall sales of imported beer increased 3.8 per cent, 25.4 per cent, and 18.4 per cent in the first half of 2019-2021, respectively, showing a clear difference.
The decline of Japanese beers was triggered by the boycott, however, it is analyzed that the continued decline is because Japanese beers have missed the trend of demand and consumption of young people, who are the main consumers.
The composition ratio of 7-Eleven's beer sales was 47.2 per cent of Korean beers and 52.8 per cent of imported products in 2017. In 2018, the gap between Korean beers (42.7 per cent) and imported beers (57.3 per cent) sales widened, showing significant preference for foreign products.
In 2019, when the boycott of Japanese products began, the gap narrowed to 45.6 per cent for Korean beers and 54.4 per cent for imported beers.
In 2020, Korean beer products (55.1 per cent) surpassed imported products (44.9 per cent), and the gap widened even in the first half of this year, making the Korean beers (57.7 per cent) significantly surpass imported beers (42.3 per cent).
It is because of the growth of domestic craft beer, which far exceeded in sales of Japanese beer.
At 7-Eleven, sales of Korean beers jumped 6.5 times (550.6 per cent) and 3.8 times (285.6 per cent) in the first half of this year from the same period last year. Although sales accounted for only 2.5 per cent in 2018, it surpassed 15 per cent from January to July this year.
The trend is similar in other companies. At CU, sales of Korean craft beer rose 2.1 times (117.1 per cent) from the first half of 2019, 4.9 times (390.8 per cent) in the first half of 2020 and 3.4 times (240.5 per cent) in the first half of this year.
At GS25, the sales of Korean beer also jumped 4.8 times (381.4 per cent) and 3.4 times (244 per cent) from last year and the first half of this year, respectively.
Overall liquor industry is same. According to the trade statistics made by the Korea Customs Service, beer imports in the first half of this year amounted to USD 106.47 million (about 122.6 billion won), down 5.4 per cent year-on-year. Korea's beer Imports reached the lowest since 2016 when it reached USD 79.41 million.
According to the trade statistics from the Korea Craft Brewers Association, sales of domestic craft beer amounted to 118 billion won last year. Compared to 2017 (43 billion won), it has grown 2.7 times in 3 years. (ANI/Global Economic)