1. MARKETING ISSUES

Wine Outsells Soju in Hypermarket Stores This Year [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20121216/51643431/1

Summary: Lotte Mart reported that sales of wine was 4.6 percent larger than soju this year as of December 16.  While total sales of alcohol beverage declined 2.2 percent in Lotte Mart so far this year compared to last year, wine recorded 5.2 percent of sales growth.  Lotte Mart added that implementation of free trade agreements have boosted the sales of wine.

Wine sales outrun soju shipments for first time [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/12/16/0501000000AEN20121216000300320.HTML

Summary: Sales of wine at local discount chains outstripped those of soju for the first time, data showed Sunday, mirroring a changing trend in South Korea's drinking culture.  Wine sales surpassed those of the local alcoholic drink by 4.6 percent this year, according to the data by Lotte Mart, a discount chain arm of retail giant Lotte. Last year, sales of wine lagged behind those of soju by roughly 6 percent.

Boosted by FTA, Wine Sales Beat Soju at Lotte Mart [English, CSY]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/12/17/2012121701061.html

Full text: Wine has outpaced soju as the most popular alcohol for the first time at Lotte Mart, the discount chain announced on Sunday.  Lotte said on Sunday it sold 4.6 percent more of wine than Korea's favorite distilled liquor this year. Last year, it sold 6 percent less wine than soju.   Sales of wine were just 25 percent of those of soju until the early 2000s, but the figure soared to 58 percent in 2006 and has continued rising ever since, it added.   Red wine was also more popular than whiskey this year, outselling it by more than 7.4 percent, Lotte said. This reverses last year's sales, when it sold 5 percent less red wine than whiskey.

Lotte attributed the changing dynamic to an increase in high-quality but affordable wines following a series of free trade agreements with the EU, U.S. and Chile, among other countries and regions.  The overall domestic market for alcohol beverages dropped 2.2 percent this year due to the prolonged economic downturn.   Traditional alcoholic beverages posted the largest drop of 9.4 percent, with makgeolli (Korean traditional rice wine) leading with a 10.2 percent loss. But soju, wine and whiskey bucked the trend with respective sales growth of 7.6, 5.2 and 1.2 percent.

2. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Portion of households' food costs largest in 12 years: data [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/12/17/0503000000AEN20121217002300320.HTML

Summary: The ratio of South Korean households' food spending to their total consumption expenditures hit a 12-year high in the third quarter of this year, data showed Monday, reflecting their belt tightening amid the protracted economic downturn.   Households spent 24.1 trillion won (US$22.4 billion), or 14.6 percent of their total consumption of 165.7 trillion won, on food and groceries in the July-September period, the highest ratio since the 15.1 percent tallied in the same quarter of 2000, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Older moms leading market for premium baby goods [English, CSY]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=020000&biid=2012121718128

Summary: According to Statistics Korea, the average age of a woman giving birth for the first time in the country was 31.4 last year, up by 2 years from a decade ago. In Seoul, the average age was higher than 32. The number of babies born to mothers over age 40 also set a record with more than 10,000 since these statistics were first compiled in 1981.   With more women in their 30s or older having babies, the focus of the market for premium baby goods has shifted to high-income mothers, meaning that “gold misses” who earn high incomes are becoming “older moms” who greatly affect the market.