Shown here is a section of bottled mineral water at a retail outlet in Seoul on July 20, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s bottled mineral water market is enjoying a boom thanks to an increase in household demand on the back of the prolonged ‘stay-at-home’ trend resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first half sales of Jeju Samdasoo, a brand of mineral water produced by Jeju Province Development Corp. (JPDC), were up 11 percent growth compared to a year ago.
The JPDC attributed the robust growth in first-half sales to the increase in non-face-to-face online sales resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co.’s mineral water brand ICIS saw its first half sales reach 86.4 billion won (US$74.2 million), up 6 percent from a year ago.
Bottled drinking water companies are increasingly targeting environment-conscious consumers by strengthening environmental, social and governance (ESG) management through the release of label-free products and collection of empty bottles.
Kwangdong Pharmaceutical Co., the distributor of Jeju Samdasoo, has been collecting empty PET bottles for its mobile app-based clients starting from May. JPDC unveiled a label-free product dubbed ‘Jeju Samdasoo Green’ in June.
After releasing the industry’s first label-free bottled water product in January 2020, Lotte Chilsung Beverage has boosted the share of the label-free product among its overall sales to more than 10 percent.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
