Generation MZ charmed by wine
Wine, traditionally saved for special occasions, has become an everyday alcoholic beverage due to rise of at-home mixology. Demand for high-end alcoholic beverages such as whiskey and wine has increased as more and more people enjoy and savor alcohol rather than simply drinking to get drunk.
In particular, wine is rapidly becoming common, centering on the MZ generation.
According to the Korea Liquor Importers Association, wine imports in the first quarter amounted to $140.17 million, up 9.6% from the same period last year. Wine imports last year increased by 69.6% compared to the previous year, and the growth rate of imports tripled compared to the figure in 2020. Last year, imported wine weighed 77,675 tons.
According to a survey conducted by Shinsegae L&B, a liquor distribution company, commissioned by Korea Research, more than half (54%) of adult men and women who had been drinking wine within 3 months said that they drank more wine last year compared to the previous year. The frequency of drinking wine was an average of 2.1 times per month, and the average cost of wine was 79,000 won per month.
Premium wines are also entering the wine shelves of convenience stores, where a few low-priced wines were predominant. GS25 introduced high-quality French wines called ‘Five Chateaus’ to its flagship store specializing in alcoholic beverages opened in Jeonju. E-Mart 24 opened the first convenience store specializing in alcoholic beverages in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and a store owner with a wine sommelier license provides a product recommendation service to consumers.
CU is a signature wine brought to Korea for the first time through direct import, ‘mmm! ‘Casho’ was released. BGF, a subsidiary of BGF Retail, the operator of CU, discovered wines and imported them directly after obtaining a license for import and export of alcoholic beverages last year. 7-Eleven launched ‘Wine & Plate’, a wine-only snack brand, and is introducing snacks products that go well with wine.
Meanwhile, interest in wine cellars is higher than ever. Samsung Electronics is launching and selling the Bespoke Wine Refrigerator and the Bespoke Infinite Line Wine Refrigerator. When a wine label is scanned with a dedicated smartphone app, wine information is automatically entered and added to the storage list. Pairings that go well with the wine are recommended.
LG Electronics launched the Dios Object Collection Wine Cellar last May. Similarly, if you take a wine label in conjunction with a dedicated app, you can see information about the product as well as other people's ratings. It is also characterized by being able to set the location of the wine after storing it so that it can be easily found with the app.
Source: Daily Pop Korea (June 2022)
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