Lotte Mart said it saw foreign-made beer sales surge 24.5 percent, 11.2 percent and 34.1 percent in January, February and March from the same period of last year, respectively.
However, sales of Korean-made beer plunged 19.1 percent, 6.3 percent and 4 percent in January, February and March from the corresponding period last year, respectively, Lotte Mart said.
The situation at E-Mart was similar to that of Lotte Mart.
E-Mart said it saw imported beer sales jump more than 20 percent in the first two months and 38.2 pecent in March from a year earlier.
But sales of locally-made beer decreased 5 percent during the January-March period, the retailer said.
Industry sources attributed a steep rise in imported beer sales partly to the introduction of measures to promote the fair trade of alcoholic beverages in the country.
By Keat Min Woo
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com