Just a few years ago, it was barely on the radar screen of South Koreans. Now, it’s taken off in a big way.
Instead of putting his money into a “fancy brew pub or taproom” the chief executive of Hand and Malt Brewing Company, Bryan Do, poured his money into the ingredients that he uses for his beers .
“I focused on the quality of my beers and not the profits. There’s a lot of other breweries coming in to Korea that see ‘oh wow this is going to be a booming market,’ I don’t want to focus on that,” he says. “That’s going to be part of the legacy for Hand and Malt that lets us stand ten years down the line.”
South Koreans first became craft beer connoisseurs after the football World Cup in 2002. It rapidly caught on and beer production in South Korea grew 19% in just a couple of years. Do decided to launch his business in 2013 but to get people buying, at first he had to give out free samples, he told CEO Guru host Steve Tappin.
“When there are conglomerates, and when there are competitors that come in (to the market), I want people to trust that Hand and Malt is making quality beers and the beers that I’m tasting now is going to be the same (quality) that I’m tasting the next day, a month later, six months later.”
Originally published by BBC Capital
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