Key facts
- HiteJinro will produce Kirin's Ichiban Shibori beer at its Jeonju factory.
- This is the first time an Asian importer without capital ties to Kirin has been licensed to produce its beer technology.
- The company aims for an initial run of 1.5 million liters.
- HiteJinro plans to produce 75% of its Kirin sales in Korea domestically by next year.
- Japanese engineers helped set up HiteJinro's plant to meet Kirin's quality standards.
- Domestic production will reduce delivery time from about six weeks to one or two weeks.
Major South Korean liquor maker HiteJinro announced Monday that it has begun producing Kirin Brewery's flagship Ichiban Shibori brand beer at its facility in southwestern South Korea. This marks a significant development as HiteJinro becomes the first company in Asia without capital ties to the Japanese brewer to receive a license for its production technology.
The technical partnership, signed in July, involves Kirin supplying HiteJinro with its core brewing technique and proprietary yeast. Japanese engineers were involved in setting up HiteJinro's plant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, over more than a year to ensure adherence to Kirin's stringent quality standards. HiteJinro CEO Jang In-seop highlighted the move as a culmination of 20 years of mutual trust, transforming a distribution partnership into a strategic alliance focused on technology and quality.
This domestic production is expected to create a stable supply system and significantly reduce delivery times to the Korean market, from the approximately six weeks previously required for imported beer to clear customs, down to one or two weeks. HiteJinro plans to allocate the logistics savings towards marketing and promotions. The company has set an initial production target of about 1.5 million liters, equivalent to 3 million 500-milliliter cans, and aims to produce 75% of its total Kirin sales in Korea domestically by next year.
The initiative comes amid a growing demand for Japanese beer in South Korea, which has seen import volumes rise 22% year-on-year to 100,322 metric tons last year. This recovery follows a boycott of Japanese goods in 2019, with volumes beginning to rebound in 2022. HiteJinro first imported Kirin Ichiban Shibori in 2004 and has since expanded its distribution and sales, with the brand experiencing an estimated 82.4% annual sales volume growth from 2020 through 2026.