"프리미엄 시장 공략" 해외로 뻗어나가는 생수들
South Korean bottled water companies are entering foreign markets on the back of the Korean wave and the popularity of Korean snacks.
They're looking to reach premium customers in Vietnam and China.
Park Se-young has more.
Bottles of water with Korean labels are being sold at a supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City.
Korean bottled water companies began exporting their products to China and Vietnam in June.
They've entered 600 stores in Vietnam so far and plan to extend that number to around four-thousand in August.
"With Korea’s image and consumers' increasing interest in health after COVID-19, we’ve been getting responses from young city workers at convenience stores."
Another company targeting the Chinese market established a factory there in 2015 and its sales grew 20 percent in 2019.
"We had sales growth of 20 percent in 2019 and have a double-digit growth target for this year as well."
With Korean companies actively targeting markets abroad, bottled water exports grew over 26 percent from five-point-49 million U.S. dollars in 2014 to six-point-95 million dollars in 2019.
Chinese people consume a lot of bottled water because they do not trust their country's tap water, …and interest in high-quality water in China and Southeast Asia has increased along with the rise in income levels.
The market has a bright outlook due to the increased awareness of Korean food companies and growing demand for daily necessities amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
"With the recent Korean Wave, the fact that the confectionary and water comes from Korea is working to our advantage."
However, it will be a challenge to gain market dominance ...with French water companies accounting for more than half of the imported bottled water market in China and Chinese brands also jumping into the market.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.
