The Bottled Water Market Shakes... "Traditional Powerhouse" Samdasoo Sees First Sales Decline in Over a Decade

Jeju Samdasoo Sales Drop 0.4% to 318.3 Billion Won Last Year
Isis and Baeksansu Also See Declining Sales

The long-standing leaders of the domestic bottled water market are beginning to falter. Jeju Samdasoo, the market leader, saw its sales decline for the first time in over a decade since its distribution was entrusted to Kwangdong Pharmaceutical. With consumers increasingly turning to affordable private brand (PB) bottled water, the traditional giants appear to be gradually losing ground in the market competition.

According to the electronic disclosure system on March 24, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical revealed that Jeju Samdasoo's sales last year totaled 318.3 billion won, a 0.4% decrease from the previous year. Kwangdong Pharmaceutical has been in charge of distributing Jeju Samdasoo since 2013, and after successfully renewing its distribution rights last September, it will continue to sell Samdasoo through 2029.

Yonhap News Agency

This is the first time in 12 years that Jeju Samdasoo has posted a sales decline since Kwangdong Pharmaceutical began distributing the brand. When Kwangdong Pharmaceutical first took over distribution in 2012, Jeju Samdasoo’s sales stood at 2.3 billion won, which soared to 125.7 billion won the following year in 2013. After surpassing 200 billion won in 2019, sales exceeded 300 billion won in 2023.

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corporation, the manufacturer of Jeju Samdasoo, stated in a comprehensive audit report released last December that sales volume for Samdasoo products in 2024 decreased by 1.5% compared to 2023, with sales falling from 344.1 billion won in 2023 to 333.7 billion won in 2024. Since the sales figures of Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, the distributor, do not include sales within Jeju Island, the numbers from Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corporation may differ slightly. However, both sets of data indicate a clear downward trend in Jeju Samdasoo's sales.

Industry analysts believe this could signal the beginning of a shift in the market landscape. According to the industry, Jeju Samdasoo holds a 40% share of the domestic bottled water market, making it the clear number one. Isis, produced by Lotte Chilsung, comes in second at 13%, while Baeksansu is third at 8%. Considering that Jeju Samdasoo has maintained an overwhelming market share for nearly 30 years, the current sales decline is seen as highly unusual.

Lotte Chilsung’s Isis, ranked second in the industry, has also entered a period of declining sales. Last year, Lotte Chilsung disclosed that sales of its bottled water products, including Isis, reached 213.7 billion won, a 7.8% drop from the previous year. Lotte Chilsung’s bottled water sales have been steadily decreasing since 2022, when they recorded 261 billion won.

Nongshim Baeksansu, the third-largest player, is also experiencing declining sales. Yanbian Nongshim Gwangcheon Beverage Co., Ltd. (Yanbian Nongshim), which focuses on Baeksansu as its core business, saw sales fall from 69 billion won in 2022 to 66.8 billion won in 2023, and further down to 61.2 billion won in 2024. Last year, sales plummeted to 44 billion won, a sharp 28.1% decrease from the previous year. The production volume of Baeksansu at Yanbian Nongshim also saw a significant drop, falling more than 30% in one year from 238,000 tons in 2024 to 157,000 tons last year.

The domestic bottled water market has shown steady growth for over 30 years since bottled water sales were permitted in 1994. According to market research agency Euromonitor, the domestic bottled water market reached a record high in 2024 with a market size of 3.1761 trillion won—more than five times larger than 10 years ago. As of July last year, the Ministry of Environment reported that there were 59 bottled water manufacturers in Korea. Despite the expanding market, the top three companies are all seeing their revenues decline.

An industry insider explained, "With the flood of low-priced PB products, sales of premium bottled water appear to be declining. The launch of ultra-compact water purifiers tailored for single-person households is also negatively affecting the bottled water market." The insider added, "The price competitiveness of low-cost PB products is expected to clash with the quality competitiveness of bottled water from established leading brands."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.