The portion of wine among Emart’s liquor sales rose to 23.3 percent this year from 17.8 percent in 2017. (image: Emart Inc.)
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Wine sales accounted for a large portion of the liquor sold in the retail industry this year.
Wine accounted for the largest portion of sales, surpassing that of local and imported liquor, for the first time, as Emart Inc., South Korea’s largest hypermarket chain, concluded its liquor sales from January to December 19 this year.
Wine sales have grown since the early 2000s, but the trend was reversed in 2016 and 2017, when beer became more popular. Now the trend has reversed once again with wine at the forefront.
The portion of Korean beer among Emart’s liquor sales dropped from 24.9 percent in 2017 to 22.2 percent this year, while that of imported beer also dropped from 25.6 percent in 2017 to 21.6 percent this year.
The portion of wine, however, rose to 23.3 percent this year from 17.8 percent in 2017.
Soju has also continued to grow in sales from 16.9 percent in 2017 to 18.2 percent this year, but fell short of wine.
Emart said, “Low priced wines and mid-priced wines are appearing in the market, and consumers who have been flocking to imported beer seem to be bringing wine back into the cart.”
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
