Spreading makgeolli spirit in US

Carol Pak, founder and CEO of Sool / Courtesy of Carol Pak

Sool CEO aims to introduce creative Korean beverage brand to the world

By Taeyoung Lee

NEW YORK ― Aiming to globalize Korean beverages, it is Carol Pak's sixth year leading the company Sool, a global wholesaler of premium Korean alcoholic beverage brands. Based in New York, Sool has introduced innovative beverages such as Makku and Soku to a diverse audience, selling more than 2.4 million cans since launching in 2019.

Her first encounter with "makgeolli," the traditional Korean alcoholic drink often dubbed rice wine, traces back to her trips to Korea for market research. She first noticed that the Korean makgeolli scene was changing quickly. "New bars were forming in Korea that put a spotlight on craft makgeolli. A new generation of people started to drink makgeolli and the average age of makgeolli brewers was getting younger. I saw that more and more makgeolli brewers, brands and bars were popping up every week," Pak said.

"Looking at the changing landscape, I sensed a movement happening here. Makgeolli should have been receiving this attention a long time ago. There were many stigmas and there used to be a wide variety of options of alcoholic beverages besides makgeolli. But because Korean culture, in general, is becoming so popular globally, I felt like it's time for people to be introduced to real makgeolli and real soju," she added.

Made with fermented rice, Makku is a modern take on Korea's traditional alcoholic beverage. Courtesy of Carol Pak

She was able to execute her vision backed by her experience in the beverage industry. With an MBA degree from Columbia Business School, Pak worked as a global manager at ZX Ventures, which is the global investment and innovation group of AB InBev, known as the world's leading brewer. She worked between New York and Shanghai offices on a new product development line for China. Pak has been trying to introduce beverages to a wide consumer base by not limiting herself to the specific framework of East and West.

Born and raised in Flushing, New York, a predominantly Asian neighborhood, Pak grew up familiar with various Korean beverages influenced by her friends and the surrounding environment. Her curiosity grew bigger in learning more about the origins and histories of different types of alcohol since working in the beverage industry. Among many alcoholic beverages, makgeolli left a newer and stronger impression on her.

Pak endevoured to find a taste of makgeolli that anyone could enjoy and accept with familiarity. She visited many Korean makgeolli bars and grocery stores and started sampling all the different makgeolli brands in the field. Meanwhile, she was inspired by one makgeolli that was the easiest to drink, especially for novice makgeolli drinkers.

This was how the first product called Makku, a lightly sparkling brew made from rice ― the brand's flagship product ― came into being. Made out of all-natural ingredients only and made with real steamed rice, Makku was the result of a lot of trials and testing to find the optimal amount of sweetness and smooth taste of makgeolli that can easily suit as many consumers as possible.

The first and primary market of Makku was New York.

Sold in a can, Makku rebrands makgeolli as "rice beer" rather than "rice wine" as it is conventionally known. Courtesy of Carol Pak

"It was much easier for us to expand our products and distributions here than in other cities. I think it is because New York leads the food scene since many of the high-end Korean restaurants are willing to try new products and are a lot more innovative. And they are looking for premium drinks that represent their menu. In New York, certain restaurants, which were dedicated to providing unconventional experiences to their customers, were willing to take our products to try out as a pairing beverage menu," Pak said.

Given the environment of New York which is always exposed to diversity and is at the forefront of food culture, the customer base influx for Makku consumption was diverse. There has been a crossover to a larger audience and consumer-based drinking products during the last few years. "Timing of the Korean food scene expanding and the New York population being early adopters met exquisitely. They are more curious, more global, more open-minded, so they are always willing to try new products," Pak said.

As more people began to learn about and enjoy Korean culture, Makku came to be popular with various consumers regardless of race, gender, nationality and cultural background. "Even on our e-commerce channel, we used to have only Koreans buy from our website, but now almost no Koreans buy the products. I do recognize that we have a broader audience starting to discover new and unique beverages. Even judging from reviews and review sites, many non-Korean consumers are commenting about our products now," Pak said.

The growth of Makku's popularity was slow, but steady.

Initially, the company launched the products mostly in Korean restaurants and grocery stores such as H Mart, but now they are three years in and have moved to more general markets like Whole Foods Market and Total Wine & More. Beyond that, Pak and her company expanded its market globally outside of the U.S. and entered the Korean beverage market last September.

Pak defined the reasons for the company's growth in simple terms.

"It was the combination of factors: Korean culture growing globally, me seeing the great prospect of makgeolli business based on the beverage landscape in Korea, me trying an extraordinary taste of makgeolli and then learning the difference between the makgeolli from commercial brands and those from small breweries that are made without artificial ingredients," said Pak.

Carol Pak, founder and CEO of Sool / Courtesy of Carol Pak

Nonetheless, Pak had to undergo some struggles and challenges that were behind many achievements while leading her brand Sool. Building a new category for Sool's beverages with limited resources took much hard work from the beginning. Introducing a whole new beverage into the U.S. market meant there needed to be a thorough education about what makgeolli is and what Makku is to investors. "It is not easy for us to just go into the mass market because people have never heard of makgeolli before and they don't know if Americans would like it or if the general market would like it," Pak added.

Even after Makku was successfully developed and introduced, it required a sufficient amount of continuous funding to maintain the beverage products in the local market as well as expand the market globally. "Getting continuous funding is always a challenge for us because of the environment and also the fact that we cannot grow as fast as other types of brands," Pak said.

She confronted some typical founder struggles, too. "You have to learn and figure out everything from the bottom. Like learning how to build and manage the team, making the best decisions for the company and our people in the middle of complicated situations," Pak explained.

To whoever dreams of starting a food or beverage business on their own, Pak advises that full commitment is the key. "I have to sacrifice a lot compared to my friends who have very stable jobs. It is indeed a marathon. If you think you are doing a startup seeking money, that will not be true. You have to be mission-based and passionate about what you are doing," Pak said.

"The reality versus what you think you will be doing as an entrepreneur is very different," she continued. "More than half of my job is fundraising and seeking capital, so if you are not prepared for that, you must rethink entrepreneurship. Most of what I am doing is making sure I can pay my employees, paying for production, looking for loans, asking investors for money and just figuring out how to get more sales. This is not very sexy and glamorous."

Pak and her company Sool have a clear vision and goal for the upcoming years. "I am proud of what we have done so far, but there is so much more to do. How long it will take for Korean alcohol and the knowledge of our drinks to be more widely accepted and for us to see a national movement, I think it would take at least five to 10 years more," she said.

Her short-term goal is to grow the U.S. market and cross over into the general market outside of just Korean accounts and customers. As a long-term goal, Pak is hoping to become a global brand to export to Europe or Asia.

"The global brand just like Coca-Cola," Pak said.

Taeyoung Lee (taeyounglee.tylee@gmail.com) is a freelance journalist based in New York City.