North Korea’s domestic beverage industry is currently building a market for soda, juices and other drinks. The innovations are unique as they feature water from local aquifers and fruit flavors.
Fruit-flavored carbonated drinks sell well in North Korea. The country only recently developed a domestic beverage manufacturing industry in the early 2010s – previously, drinks like soda could only be produced by companies jointly owned with foreign companies. Today, however, North Korean factories are able to create different beverages of their own.
Leading beverage manufacturers in Pyongyang, for instance, are Munsu Foodstuff Factory, Taedong Foodstuff Exchange, Nagwon Gunhung Exchange, Taedong River Fruit Processing Plant, Air Koryo Beverage Factory, 5.1 Food Factory, and the Kumkop Combined Foodstuff Factory.
A GROWING NUMBER OF BRANDS AND FLAVORS
According to a source, North Korean soda, in addition to Pyongyang’s Raengchon Soda or Changjon Soda, includes around 20 regional brands and flavors. Further on the market are cocoa carbonated juices, comparable with Coca Cola, and beverages with vinegar bases. Both are especially popular drinks for hot summer days.
Furthermore, North Korea produces beverages with both local fruit flavors – such as apple, pear, grape, strawberry, and peach – as well as juices with exotic flavors like clementine, pineapple, mango or kiwi. Daily NK has been told that over 30 types of fruit juices are currently on the market.
According to a source, one particular beverage, which features tastes of Ryanggang Province’s local specialties like blueberries, is so popular that it’s even being exported abroad.
While North Korea still produces around nine different kinds of soda in Kyongryon Patriotic Soda Factory, a venture run by North Koreans in Japan, the country’s domestic beverage market is expanding as well. The most popular product among North Koreans is reportedly produced in Kumkop Combined Foodstuff Factory.
COMPETITION HEATS UP BETWEEN BRANDS
Though the main ingredients of the North Korean juices are basically the same as anywhere else – sugar, citric acid, fructose, carbonation and various fruit flavors – their tastes allegedly differ from international products.
Cocoa carbonated juice, for example, is said to be less fizzy but sweeter than South Korean sodas. It’s thus particularly popular among children, according to sources. In addition, the beverages tastes apparently depend on the regional water supplies, manufacturing methods and added ingredients.
“The flavors differ depending on the factory the juice was produced in,” a source told Daily NK on Monday. Therefore, he explained, factories “try hard to improve the product quality and participate in product fairs.”
According to him, “North Koreans prefer products produced in the Kumkop Combined Foodstuff Factory. It’s particularly popular because it supplies athletes and is considered superior in quality compared to other brands.” This further indicates the “fierce competition for wholesaling among merchants in various markets,” the source said.
*Translated by Violet Kim and edited by Laura Geigenberger
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