South Korea Ready to Drink Beverages Market Report and Forecast 2025-2034

The South Korea Ready to Drink beverages market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of about 3.70% in the forecast period of 2025-2034. Work-from-home culture and increased demand immunity-boosting drinks are expected to drive the market growth exponentially during the forecast period.

Work-From-Home Culture and Innovative Product Launches are Strengthening the Ready to Drink Beverages Market Growth

The demand for RTD beverages surged quickly as a result of the work-from-home culture during the lockdown. After and during COVID-19, consumers' greater knowledge and alertness led them to switch to more immunity-boosting RTD drinks. To meet the growing consumer demand, significant brands developed and introduced immunity-boosting beverages in a variety of tastes.

Ready to drink beverages are becoming more popular due to growing consumer awareness of the health risks associated with carbonated drinks. The key players' strategies for market expansion include tailoring health-beneficial items for women, children, and fitness enthusiasts. People have discovered ways to make leisure and social gatherings more enjoyable while working from home. Demand is driven by consumers who want beverages that fit into a busy lifestyle and maintain the premium quality and taste of the drinks.

Numerous innovative concepts, including infused and functional beverages, have been created in response to rising customer demand for tempting and pleasant flavours. Ready to drink beverages have multiple ingredients added to them, so consumers are becoming more interested in them due to their outstanding nutritional value and vibrant flavour.

Market Segmentation

Ready to drink beverages are drinks that are sold in single-use packaging and are ready to consume right after opening the packaging. Ready to drink beverages are now overtaking the marketplace as a result of growing consumer demand. These days, innovative packaging styles are available for all types of beverages, including juices, coffees, teas, alcoholic beverages, milk, and even health drinks.

By type, the South Korea ready to drink beverages market can be segmented into:

• Fruit and Vegetable Juices
• Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks
• Dairy Based Beverages
• Tea and Coffee
• Flavoured and Fortified Water
• Others

Based on packaging, the South Korea ready to drink beverages market can be divided into:

• Bottle
• Tetra Pack
• Sachet
• Tin Can
• Others

Based on distribution channel, the South Korea ready to drink beverages market can be bifurcated into:

• Supermarkets/Hypermarkets
• Convenience Stores
• Speciality Stores
• Online
• Others

The Emergence of Cold-Pressed Fruit Juices and Cocktails Containing Healthy Ingredients is Augmenting the South Korea Ready to Drink Beverages Market

To maintain a healthy lifestyle, consumers favour natural and organic products, driving manufacturers to produce numerous sugar-free, vegan, gluten-free, and organic ready to drink beverages. It has further led to the emergence of natural and health-beneficial ingredient cocktails with cheaper prices and easy accessibility, proliferating the increased investment in the sector.

The expansion of e-commerce coupled with the growth of ready to drink beverages, such as, 'Sansachun ’, a rice wine used for medicinal purpose to relieve anxiety and tension, has significant market value in South Korea. Similarly, 'bokbunja wine’ is made from bokbunja raspberry, a wild raspberry indigenous to South Korea, has therapeutic qualities prevents issues including frequent urination, early greying of hair, and hazy vision linked to altered liver and kidney functions, popularising healthy beverages in the market.

Positioning RTD beverages as recreational goods have attracted a younger demographic and secured the future of premiumization in RTD beverages, giving significance to the premiumization of beverages and aiding the emergence of various start-ups in the beverage sector. The fruit and vegetable RTD beverage sector is expanding owing to the surging demand of consumers for wholesome drinks. The growing health-conscious population is shifting towards cold-pressed drinks as they aim to eat right, choosing a balanced diet while lowering obesity. Moreover, the significant factor driving fruit and vegetable RTD beverage expansion is the nutritional value of these drinks, as they contain vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, thus boosting the RTD beverage market in South Korea.

The surge of Flavoured Water and Energy Drinks Among Millennials and Generation Z Consumers Is Propelling the Market

As nutrients enriched flavoured water replaces fruit as a healthy alternative, consumers, and manufacturers are constantly investing in research and development to cater to this growing need. Moreover, the availability of various flavours and functional benefits has a positive impact while urging companies to innovate flavoured water to make it eco-friendlier and more sustainable. With an increased standard of living and rising disposable income, the inclination towards premium products is increasing. Thus, driving consumers, especially millennials and generation Z, to experiment with new flavours and product categories.

The growing popularity of gym, zumba, yoga and aerobics, together with the rising number of participants in half and full marathons, has further propelled the demand for energy drinks. Since sports drinks are high in chlorides, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium , they are frequently consumed by fitness enthusiasts, athletes and sportspersons. Contrarily, energy drinks contain sugar and stimulant substances and provide customers with mental and physical stimulation while losing electrolytes and carbohydrates during strenuous physical activity.

Due to flavour familiarity and accessibility, ready to drink coffee demand is expected to increase quickly attributed to additional flavours and other healthy components, significantly accelerating the South Korea RTD beverages market growth. For example, Kanguru partnered with Binggrae  and launched red ginseng, green tea, and many other energy drink flavours which attracted working-class and students in South Korea.

Key Players in the South Korea Ready To Drink Beverages Market

The report gives a detailed analysis of the following key players in the South Korea ready to drink beverages market, covering their competitive landscape, capacity, and latest developments like mergers, acquisitions, and investments, expansions of capacity, and plant turnarounds:

• Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd.
• Maeil Co.Ltd
• Dongsuh Companies, Inc.
• OKF Co.
• Hitejinro Co.,Ltd
• Yein T&G Inc.
• Others

The comprehensive EMR report provides an in-depth assessment of the ready to drink beverages market based on the Porter's five forces model along with giving a SWOT analysis.
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