Rice wine makgeolli dominates Korean booze market

The traditional Korean unrefined rice wine makgeolli has taken over as the country`s alcoholic beverage of choice by occupying more than 10 percent of the domestic market for the first time in 16 years.

Exports of makgeolli have also exceeded imports of the Japanese rice wine sake for the first time since 2006.

Data released Monday by the National Tax Service in Seoul said 412,000 kiloliters of makgeolli was put on the Korean market last year, up 58 percent from 260,000 kiloliters of 2009. This marks a jump of about 50 percent for the second consecutive year following 48-percent growth in 2009.

Makgeolli accounted for 12 percent of alcoholic beverage production in Korea last year, the first time for it to surpass the 10-percent level in 16 years. Its market share plummeted to a single digit in 1995 and further to the 4 percent level in 2002.

The rice wine then rebounded to more than 7 percent in 2009 followed by a jump to 12 percent last year.

Exports of makgeolli skyrocketed 180 percent to 19,000 kiloliters last year from 7,000 kiloliters in 2009. Exports to Japan exceeded 200 percent, accounting for 80 percent of all outbound shipments.

Export volume of makgeolli reached 15.59 million dollars last year, exceeding imports of sake (13.7 million dollars) for the first time since 2006.

Hwang Yong-hee, director of the consumption tax department of the tax agency, said, “Consumption and exports of makgeolli are soaring as makgeolli`s quality is growing with the number of makgeolli brands made of 100-percent homegrown rice increasing. High interest in wellness by Koreans and the popularity of Korean pop culture in Japan have also contributed to its increasing popularity.”

This trend will continue for the time being, Hwang said.

In contrast, output of alcoholic beverages overall was 3.43 million kiloliters, up a meager 3 percent year-on-year. The production of soju, the traditional Korean distilled liquor, went up a mere 0.07 percent to 931,000 kiloliters.

With more Koreans opting for low-alcohol soju, however, the production of low-alcohol soju that is less than 19 percent alcohol by volume just about doubled to 34,000 kiloliters.

Beer production reached 1.96 million kiloliters last year, down 2.3 percent. Experts said makgeolli has partially replaced the consumption of soju and beer.