Imported beer topped traditional beverages in sales for the first time in 12 years at a local discount chain.

Sales of imported beer in April and May were 10.3 percent greater than that of traditional alcoholic beverages such as makgeolli (rice wine) and fruit wine, Lotte Mart said Thursday.

Until 2005, sales of foreign beer amounted to only about a quarter of traditional beverage sales.

Imports accounted for merely 3.4 percent of beer sales back in April and May 2000. The share rose to 16.2 percent in the same period this year, Lotte Mart said.

Imported beer sales climbed to up to 91 percent of traditional beverage sales at their peak in 2008, but fell to around half two years later due to the makgeolli boom.

Lotte Mart attributed the sharp growth in foreign beer sales to diversified sources of imports under the free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union, which took effect in July last year, and increasing demand from consumers in their 20s and 30s with more overseas experience.

Until five years ago, the nation’s third largest discount chain sold 12 foreign beer brands that came in about 50 different bottle and can sizes. It now sells about 130 products of more than 40 brands.

To meet the diversifying demand, Lotte Mart plans to add about 20 foreign beers including cheap products for exclusive sales to its shelves this year.

Lotte Mart exclusively sells Gambrinus, the No. 1 beer in the Czech Republic, which has the world’s highest beer consumption per capita, and Germany’s Thuringer Premium Hefe Weizen.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)