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| Carlsberg beer products / Courtesy of GoldenBlue |
By Kim Jae-heun
GoldenBlue will file a lawsuit against Carlsberg for its unilateral termination of a distribution contract, seeking financial compensation from the beer that has a royal warrant of appointment, Korea's largest local liquor company said Wednesday.
The firm also plans to visit the Embassy of Denmark in Korea to protest Carlsberg's "unfair" business practices and file a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), GoldenBlue officials said.
On March 7, it received a letter of "mutual confirmation of termination" from Carlsberg announcing its intent to cease distribution of its products. The Korean firm will stop retailing all of Carlsberg's beer on March 31.
GoldenBlue, which signed a distribution agreement with Carlsberg in May 2018, has been marketing Danish beer here. However, in January 2022, Carlsberg began extending the contract for only two to three months at a time. After the last contract ended in October 2022, GoldenBlue has been retailing and marketing Carlsberg products under non-contractual status.
"Carlsberg has abused its power on us. We thought they were going to extend the distribution contract with us soon or later and covered for all the marketing costs after our 'official' contract ended on Oct. 31, 2022," a GoldenBlue official said. "We are preparing to fight Carlsberg with determination to lose everything. We will take legal action against Carlsberg and file a complaint to the FTC on the Danish firm's unilateral termination of contract."
According to GoldenBlue, Carlsberg established a Seoul branch last October to prepare for an advance into the Korean market on its own, despite its ongoing partnership with local liquor firms including GoldenBlue. The liquor firm said it continued to invest in perosnnel and resources for Carlsberg even in this situation.
The company also alleged there was a problem with Carlsberg's termination notice. The Danish firm's canned products offer different termination dates from bottled and draft beers. The termination date for cans is March 31, while bottled and draft beer is Aug. 31.
"This unethical behavior of fixing a different date is only advantageous to Carlsberg and does not consider its partners' situation after years of cooperation with trust and sincerity," the official said.
Carlsberg Foundation Chairman Flemming Besenbacher visited Korea with Crown Prince Frederik Andre Henrik Christian of Denmark to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Korea-Denmark diplomatic ties in May 2019. Vice President Anders Rude Jorgensen, who manages the Pacific business of Carlsberg exports, accompanied them on a visit to the Seoul office of GoldenBlue. At the meeting, they promised to further solidify the long-term partnership between the two companies by signing an MOU between the two companies to strengthen cooperation.
