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(President and [[Chief executive officer|CEO]]){{cite web |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/people/17682981-in-kyu-kim |title= Kim In-Kyu,Hite Jinro Co Ltd:Profile &Biography - Bloomberg |website= [[Bloomberg News]] |accessdate= 5 October 2016}}
Park Moon-Deuk
([[Chairperson|Chairman]]){{cite web |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/people/1752427-moon-deuk-park |title= Park Moon-Deuk,Hite Jinro Co Ltd:Profile &Biography - Bloomberg |website= [[Bloomberg News]] |accessdate= 5 October 2016}}"},"products":{"wt":"{{unbulleted list|[[Soju]]|[[Beer]]|[[Whisky]]|[[Wine]]|[[Bottled water]]}}"},"brands":{"wt":"{{unbulleted list|[[Chamisul]]|[[Hite Brewery|Hite]]}}"},"revenue":{"wt":""},"revenue_year":{"wt":""},"operating_income":{"wt":""},"income_year":{"wt":""},"net_income":{"wt":""},"net_income_year":{"wt":""},"aum":{"wt":""},"assets":{"wt":""},"assets_year":{"wt":""},"equity":{"wt":""},"equity_year":{"wt":""},"num_employees":{"wt":""},"num_employees_year":{"wt":""},"parent":{"wt":"Hite Holdings Co.,Ltd. (50.86%){{cite web |url= http://hite-jinro-ir.com/english/sub_hitejinro/sub_stockholder/sub_01.asp |title= HiteJinro >Shareholders' Information >Shareholding Structure |accessdate= 5 October 2016}}"},"website":{"wt":"{{URL|en.hitejinro.com}}"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBg">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}
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Native name | 하이트진로 |
---|---|
Company type | Public |
KRX: 000080 | |
ISIN | |
Industry | Beverage |
Founded | October 3, 1924 [1] |
Headquarters | HiteJinro Building 714 Yeongdong-daero, , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Kim In-Kyu (President and CEO) [2] Park Moon-Deuk (Chairman) [3] |
Products | |
Brands | |
Parent | Hite Holdings Co., Ltd. (50.86%) [4] |
Website | en |
History |
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Business culture |
Industries |
Regional |
Related topics |
HiteJinro Co., Ltd. (Korean : 하이트진로; Hanja : 眞露; Korean pronunciation: [tɕilo] ) is a South Korean multinational drink, brewing and distiller company, founded in 1924. It is the world's leading producer of soju, accounting for more than half of that beverage's domestic sales. It also manufactures a variety of other alcoholic beverages including red wine and whiskey. Distilleries are located in Icheon, Cheongwon, and Masan, with the Masan plant geared toward exports. In addition, Jinro produces the Soksu brand of bottled water at a factory in Cheongwon. In 2006, the company was acquired by Hite, a popular beverage company whose main product is beer.
Jinro soju is known by the brand name Chamisul (참이슬), which is the world's most popular liquor. Part of their marketing strategy is to use temperature sensitive paper on their bottle label. A tab in the shape of an Asiatic Toad (the company's mascot) is white when the bottle is warm and becomes blue when the bottle is cold, indicating that the soju is ready to drink.
Jinro has been named the top-selling spirit in the world in the Millionaires' Club 2016, after selling 73.8m 9-litre in the year 2015. [5]
Jinro is the largest manufacturer of soju accounting for half of all white spirits sold in South Korea. [6] Soju accounts for 97% of the category. Global sales in 2013 were 750 million bottles; the second-largest spirits brand, Smirnoff, sold less than half that number. [7] The most popular variety of soju is currently Chamisul [6] (참이슬 - literally meaning "real dew"),[ citation needed ] a quadruple-filtered soju produced by Jinro. Other brands include:
Jinro launched Chamisul in South Korea on October 19, 1998. Their goal with the new brand was to break the stereotype that soju had to be 25% ABV to be palatable. The success of the brand changed the image of soju from a strong hearty spirit to a "soft and clean" one. The name Chamisul has been commonly associated with soju ever since and its introduction marked an historic breakthrough in the soju market, in terms of its quality, brand power, and sales volume. Chamisul was initially launched as a 23% ABV product when it was released. It has subsequently been revised to 20.1% ABV, while its sister sub-branding "Chamisul Fresh" is sold at 17.2% ABV. These two brands are currently leading the domestic soju market.
The brand has gained huge popularity by using bamboo charcoal filtration method since its launch. The recipe has also been renewed seven times since.
Chamisul has become a common placeword for soju in South Korea. The brand has been holding a 50% (or more) share of the domestic market since two years after its initial release.
Hitejinro’s product line includes six beers, most notably the Hite label; seven soju lines, including the Korean favorite, Chamisul; two whiskey variations; and one wine. Together, this has garnered them a sizeable market share. Hite Brewery Co., Ltd. is the leading player in the Korean alcoholic drinks market, generating a 50.2% share. [note 1]
Jinro's brand of soju is the biggest-selling spirit in the world, according to a survey by the UK-based Drinks International magazine, easily outselling vodka and whisky brands last year. [note 2]
Average adult annual consumption of spirits in South Korea is 9.57 liters, the world’s highest, according to 2005 data from the World Health Organization published last year. The Korean landscape of drinking has resulted in numerous street brawls, increased family violence and other crimes involving drinking. This prevalent problem is further exacerbated due to very minimal government punishment when a crime is committed with alcohol. [note 3]
Due to these occurrences, Hite-Jinro has begun putting warning labels on bottles of Chamisul and Beer products with messages reading: "No more drunken violence! Let's improve wrong drinking culture!" [note 4]
"We felt tremendously responsible for social problems caused by drinking... we will help with efforts to change our drinking culture to a more positive one," said a sales manager at Hite-Jinro, quoted in Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
Soju sales are soaring and foreign companies are considering buying into one of the few Korean industries to relish the economic crisis. But outsiders face tough, patriotic competition.
With HiteJinro's most notable drink, Soju, it has quickly gained momentum and popularity as a vodka substitute. The spirit, which is distilled from rice, barley, and koji, has become a popular import; though, with the company operating in Russia, the US, South Korea, China and Japan, the Korean giant has begun setting its sights on India with a new bottling deal. [note 5]
An alcopop is any of certain mixed alcoholic beverages with relatively low alcohol content, including:
Vodka is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is made by distilling liquid from fermented cereal grains and potatoes since the latter was introduced in Europe in the 18th century. Some modern brands use maize, sugar cane, fruit, honey, and maple sap as the base.
Soju is a clear and colorless distilled alcoholic beverage, traditionally made from rice, but later from other grains and has a flavor similar to vodka. It is usually consumed neat. Its alcohol content varies from about 12.5% to 53% alcohol by volume (ABV), although since 2007 low alcohol soju below 20% has become more popular.
Thai Beverage, better known as ThaiBev (Thai: ไทยเบฟ), is Thailand's largest and one of Southeast Asia's largest beverage companies, with distilleries in Thailand, UK, and China. It is owned by Thai Chinese billionaire business magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. Listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, Thai Beverage plc has a market capitalization in excess of US$13 billion.
Smirnoff is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898), but its modern incarnation traces back to the 1930s, by American liquor distributor Heublein. Distributed in 130 countries, it is manufactured in different countries depending on market, but is not currently produced in Russia or, indeed, anywhere in Eastern Europe.
Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd. is a drink manufacturer in South Korea affiliated with Lotte Corporation. The company's name, Chilsung, signifies "Big Dipper" or seven stars, and its logo displays seven stars aligned in a row.
Liquor or distilled beverages are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include spirit, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. While the word liquor ordinarily refers to distilled alcoholic spirits rather than beverages produced by fermentation alone, it can sometimes be used more broadly to refer to any alcoholic beverage.
Cîroc is a brand of alcoholic beverages produced in France since 2003 and owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. The brand family includes vodka, flavored products containing vodka, and brandy. From 2007 the marketing and promotion for Cîroc in the United States was in conjunction with mogul Sean Combs in an "equal-share venture" with profits from the brand being split between Combs and Diageo, but this was terminated in 2024 after a legal dispute, leaving Diageo the sole owner.
Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countries, denatured alcohol or denatured rectified spirit may commonly be available as "rectified spirit", because in some countries the retail sale of rectified alcohol in its non-denatured form is prohibited.
Beer, called maekju in Korean, was first introduced to Korea in the early 20th century. Seoul's first brewery opened in 1908. Two current major breweries date back to the 1930s. The third brewery established in Korea, Jinro Coors Brewery, was founded in the 1990s. It was later acquired by Oriental Breweries (OB). Hite Breweries's former name was Chosun Breweries, which was established in 1933. The company changed its name to Hite Breweries in 1998. OB Breweries established as Showa Kirin Breweries in 1933. The company changed its name to OB Breweries in 1995.
Hite Brewery Company Limited is a South Korean brewery company headquartered in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Its main products are beer, rice wine, and mineral water.
Oriental Brewery or OB is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.
Korn, also known as Kornbrand or Kornbranntwein, is a German colorless distilled beverage produced from fermented cereal grain seed. The production of Korn uses only five grains: most of the production is based on rye or wheat; barley is mainly used to obtain the required malt for the brewing process; oats and buckwheat are rarely used. The addition of food colorings, flavorings, or sweeteners is not permitted. Korn is distilled to lower alcoholic proofs and less rigorously filtered than vodka, which leaves more of the cereal grain flavor in the finished spirit.
An alcoholic beverage is a beverage containing alcohol (ethanol). Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.
Tōkki Soju is a brand of soju founded in Brooklyn, New York in 2016 by master distiller Brandon Hill. The company prides themselves on quality over profit, using expensive ingredients that contribute to taste such as glutinous rice.
Chamisul is a brand of soju manufactured by South Korean company HiteJinro. It is the most popular brand of liquor in the world. Chamisul Original is 20.1% ABV, and Chamisul Fresh is 17% ABV.
Street Alcohol Fighter, often abbreviated as SAF is a South Korean variety web show hosted by South Korean singer-songwriter and presenter Kim Hee-chul. The program aired every Thursday at 8 pm KST on YouTube. The primary notion is that celebrities are interviewed by Kim while consuming alcoholic beverages.