Hite Brewery Company Limited (; ; ) is a South Korean

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

company headquartered in

Yeongdeungpo District Yeongdeungpo District () is one of the List of districts of Seoul, 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, the first two syllables are thought to be from "''yeongdeung''" (靈登) or "divine ascent", a ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Its main products are beer,

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermentation, fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, where rice is a quintessential staple crop. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during wh ...

, and mineral water.

History

The company was established as Nippon Beer Chosun Co. in 1933 by Dainippon Brewery ( Sapporo Breweries). After 1945, Dainippon Brewery property was confiscated by the Korean authorities and became Crown Beer. In 2001 the company had three factories, and in 2002 its

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

of the domestic beer market was some 55%, up from 30% in 1992. In 2006, the company acquired Jinro, the popular South Korean

soju Soju (English pronunciation: ; ) is a clear and colorless distilled alcoholic beverage from Korea, traditionally made from rice, but later from other grains and has a flavor similar to vodka. It is usually consumed neat. Its alcohol content ...

company. Among the two companies, Jinro was founded in 1924 as Jincheon Brewing Company in Yonggang-gun, South Pyongan Province. In 1953, the company moved to its current location in Singil-dong, Yeongdeung-gu, Seoul, and changed its name to Seongjo, Cheongnyo in 1954, Jinro in 1966, and Jinro in 1975. In 1980, it won gold prizes in six categories of the 11th International Mainstream Congress (IWSC) and eight categories of the 18th Monde Selection. It released cham Chamisul in 1998, and sold 10 billion bottles in 2006. Hite Beer was founded in 1933 as Chosun Beer Corporation in Yeongdeung-eup, Siheung-gun, Gyeonggi-do. It was the first Korean beer export in 1962. It introduced Hite in 1993 and changed its name to Hite in 1998. In 2002, it sold 10 billion bottles of Hite beer. The two companies launched the Hite Jinro Group in 2005. In 2007, the company consolidated its export sector to form an overseas business headquarters and established a local corporation in China. In 2008, the holding company was designated Hite Holdings and the business company as Hite Brewery, and in 2011, it was launched as the current Hite Jinro Corporation

Sponsorships

The company sponsored a StarCraft professional team named Hite Entus. On May 4, 2011, it was announced that the contract between Hite and Entus had expired, and was not renewed. The team announced their return to the name CJ Entus. Hite Brewery sponsored a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team, the POSCO Atoms, in the 1990s.

Brands and products

*Hite () :The top-selling beer in South Korea. Hite lager is sweet and golden, with thin body and minimal head. It is styled upon American

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

lagers such as

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

. It is brewed from barley malt and rice. Along with OB and

Cass Cass may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cass (surname), a list of people * Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey * Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie * Cass, ...

, Hite is often found on draft in South Korean bars and pubs. Most drinkers consider the draft versions of Hite, Oriental Brewery and Cass to be more or less interchangeable in price and taste, as most South Korean beers are brewed from rice. 4.3% ABV. *Prime Max () :The third most popular beer in South Korea. Prime Max is one of only two South Korean beers brewed with 100% malted barley, and it is therefore slightly more expensive than regular Hite. It has a more complex, wheaty flavour. 4.5% ABV. *Hite Stout () :Based on Original

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

(not to be confused with the creamy Draft Guinness), although it is much sweeter. Hite Stout is a dark bitter beer. It has lost popularity and market share in recent years. 4.5% ABV. *Exfeel S () :S is a light beer targeted at young drinkers and it contains 0.5g of fiber per 100ml. 4.0% ABV. *Seok Su & Puriss Water () :Purified water by Hite-Jinro Corp. *Hite d dry finish :Dry finish is made using a select dry yeast. 5% ABV. *Hite Soju () :A brand of

with a relatively low market share. Not to be confused with White Soju ().

References

External links

hite.com Homepage
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060117043501/http://www.hite.com/ , date=2006-01-17 (in Korean) Breweries in South Korea South Korean brands Food and drink companies established in 1933 Companies listed on the Korea Exchange Manufacturing companies based in Seoul 1933 establishments in Korea Companies of Korea under Japanese rule

History

Sponsorships

Brands and products

See also

References

External links