S.Korea's hy to launch wine import business

South Korea’s hy, formerly Korea Yakult, announced on Thursday that it has recently obtained a liquor import license from South Korea's National Tax Service and imported 12 types of wine produced in Georgia last month. The wines, produced at the Teliani Valley winery in Georgia, are priced at around 20,000 to 30,000 won ($15.40 to $23.20).  

hy explained that the company entered the wine import business to secure competitiveness in the business-to-business (B2B) sector. To achieve this goal, it plans to utilize an expanded logistics network following its acquisition of Mesh Korea, which operates the delivery platform Vroong, in addition to its own logistics network Fredit.

In the short term, hy plans to operate the wine import business by selecting and importing wines and then selling them to domestic liquor wholesalers. It is reported that the wine business in the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector has not yet been considered.

"It is an attempt to explore and distribute exclusive and competitive products. The 12 types of wines that were imported as samples have never been sold in Korea," said a hy official. The official also stated that the product sourcing team is reviewing various overseas products, including wines, and that the company will supply a variety of products to strengthen competitiveness, rather than focusing on its own products as in the past.

Write to Ji-Yoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com