Gekkeikan named first-ever Sake category winner in South Korean consumer survey

First-ever Sake category winner, chosen by around 390,000 voices

The BRAND CUSTOMER LOYALTY AWARDS 2026 is one of South Korea’s largest brand surveys, run jointly by the Korea Consumer Forum and the US research firm Brand Keys. In March 2026, it gathered about 1.96 million responses from 388,853 people, online and by telephone, covering around 3,100 brands across 16 industry groups, including food, cars, beauty and ICT. Brands were assessed with a proprietary index measuring five items, among them trust in and attachment to the brand, intention to buy, willingness to recommend it, and reluctance to switch to another brand. The “Sake (사케)” category, which covers Japanese sake, was created for the first time this year. Gekkeikan, headquartered in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, came first on every measure and received the top award. Executive Vice President and Representative Director Taiji Okura attended the awards ceremony held in Seoul on 30 April.

Thirty years of building a foothold in South Korea

South Korea lifted its ban on imports of Japanese sake in 1994. From the following year, 1995, Gekkeikan began selling through a local partner, Jeonil Jujong (全日本酒類), and in 1996 it set up a Japanese-Korean joint-venture sales company (the business has since been taken over by Jeonil Jujong). In recent years it has stocked convenience stores and large supermarkets with products such as Modern Sake Junmai, Gekkeikan Argo Nihonshu 5.0, sparkling sake and junmai sake in cartons. (Junmai is sake brewed from nothing but rice and rice koji.) The company believes that increasing the number of sakes people can pick up as part of their everyday shopping lies behind this recognition.

Sake backed by women and younger generations

In the survey, about 71% of those who favoured Gekkeikan were women. The brand was also praised for strong support among trend-conscious members of the MZ generation (the South Korean term covering Millennials and Gen Z together). Smaller bottles, sparkling styles and the ease of buying at convenience stores appear to be among the reasons sake is spreading from an “older man’s drink” to something younger people enjoy in their daily lives.

In Europe, too, sake from large brands such as Gekkeikan is relatively easy to find in Asian grocery stores and drinks shops. Chilled junmai or sparkling sake can also be enjoyed in a small wine glass. If the label says “junmai”, the sake was brewed from nothing but rice and rice koji.