[비즈한국] Regarding reports on the 'Gompyo Beer Dispute' between Daehan Flour Mills001130 and Sevenbrau
In articles dated June 11, 2025, in the <Biz> section of our website, we reported that 'Sevenbrau withdrew its request for a preliminary injunction against the sale because the injunction lost its effectiveness following Daehan Flour Mills’ launch of Gompyo Beer Season 2, and that Daehan Flour Mills expressed an intent to settle with Sevenbrau at the National Assembly Speaker's office, yet refused to pay 6.8 billion won in damages that had been confirmed by an accounting firm.' In an article dated August 11, 2025, we reported that 'Sevenbrau’s management situation deteriorated due to Daehan Flour Mills’ filing of excessive lawsuits and prohibition of inventory sales.'
Regarding this, Daehan Flour Mills has provided the following information:
① After the license agreement ended, Daehan Flour Mills showed maximum consideration by allowing the sale of remaining Gompyo Wheat Beer inventory. Sevenbrau's management crisis is due to the management's poor business judgments, such as excessive investment, and the stagnation of the craft beer market that began even before the license agreement expired; it is unrelated to Daehan Flour Mills.
② Regarding the preliminary injunction filed by Sevenbrau against Daehan Flour Mills, Sevenbrau withdrew it on its own judgment that it lacked the legitimate legal standing to seek such an injunction as the court's decision was pending. The launch of the 'Gompyo Beer Season 2' product had no legal effect of nullifying a preliminary injunction for sale prohibition.
③ Furthermore, Daehan Flour Mills never expressed an intention to settle at the National Assembly Speaker's office, nor did the National Assembly intervene to mediate between the two companies. It was Sevenbrau that continuously used the media to make one-sided, malicious claims and demanded money.
④ The 6.8 billion won in damages is a one-sided claim by Sevenbrau and was never confirmed through verification by an accounting firm. Sevenbrau's claims regarding the damage amount have been inconsistent, changing multiple times.
⑤ Meanwhile, while Sevenbrau generated large revenues in the 80 billion won range over three years through the collaboration contract with Daehan Flour Mills, Daehan Flour Mills only received an average annual royalty of about 400 million won. Despite this, Sevenbrau has been damaging Daehan Flour Mills’ reputation by spreading false information for over two years since 2023, causing immense financial and non-financial damage to Daehan Flour Mills.
This report is in accordance with the reconciliation by the Press Arbitration Commission.
[Biz Hankook] The conflict between Daehan Flour Mills and Sevenbrau over the trademark rights for 'Gompyo Wheat Beer,' which once created a sensation in the craft beer market, is dragging on. With Sevenbrau recently filing for corporate rehabilitation, attention is once again focused on the friction between the two companies. Sevenbrau claims that changes to the contract by Daehan Flour Mills have pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy, while Daehan Flour Mills, which had previously remained largely silent, has announced a hardline response, stating it will no longer look on idly.
Sevenbrau, having lost 'Gompyo', files for corporate rehabilitation after two years
Last month, craft beer company Sevenbrau449760 filed for corporate rehabilitation at the Seoul Rehabilitation Court. This decision came just over a year after its listing in January 2024 on the KONEX, a stock market dedicated to domestic small and medium-sized venture companies. The interrogation date, the first step of the rehabilitation procedure, took place on June 9. The representative of the company applying for rehabilitation attends the interrogation date, where the court questions them to determine whether entering rehabilitation, rather than bankruptcy, is appropriate. Kim Kang-sam, CEO of Sevenbrau, attended the hearing on the 9th.
Sevenbrau’s rehabilitation filing is largely due to worsening profitability. The company’s performance deteriorated significantly last year. Revenue in 2024 was 8.4 billion won, a decrease of approximately 32% compared to the previous year (12 billion won). The operating loss was 9 billion won, a 48% increase in the deficit from the previous year (6.1 billion won). Sevenbrau stated, "There were instances where cash liquidity was restricted following the conflict with Daehan Flour Mills. As this situation accumulated over several years, we were forced to file for the corporate rehabilitation procedure."
Sevenbrau’s performance decline began with the failure to renew the Gompyo beer contract. In 2019, Daehan Flour Mills prepared to enter the beer business and selected Sevenbrau as the manufacturer, launching 'Gompyo Wheat Beer' the following year. Sevenbrau was responsible for the planning, development, and production of the beer. Gompyo Wheat Beer gained such high popularity that its cumulative sales reached nearly 60 million cans. Sevenbrau also made bold investments, including building the largest beer factory in Korea in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, at a cost of 30 billion won in 2022.
However, as the license agreement approached its end in February 2023, Daehan Flour Mills chose not to renew with Sevenbrau and selected Jeju Beer as the new manufacturer. Daehan Flour Mills explained, "Sevenbrau participated in the bidding process for the trademark usage agreement in February 2023 but was not finally selected." Consequently, Sevenbrau had to stop production of Gompyo Wheat Beer, its flagship product that accounted for 97% of its sales at the time. The conflict with Daehan Flour Mills began in earnest.
Upon hearing that Daehan Flour Mills would launch 'Gompyo Wheat Beer Season 2' after the contract expired, Sevenbrau filed for a preliminary injunction to ban sales. A Sevenbrau official said, "The contract stipulates a six-month inventory depletion period after expiration, giving us the right to sell Sevenbrau products. However, because there were rumors that Daehan Flour Mills would launch Season 2 quickly, we filed for an injunction in a hurry for fear our products would become unsellable. But Daehan Flour Mills released the product before a court ruling, so the injunction lost its effect, and we withdrew the lawsuit."
Diverging accounts over the settlement process and amounts
Currently, Daehan Flour Mills and Sevenbrau are undergoing a settlement process. Song In-seok, CEO of Daehan Flour Mills, attended the National Assembly audit twice as a witness and expressed his intent to 'actively seek a settlement' regarding the conflict with Sevenbrau. According to industry insiders, after the National Assembly audit last October, Daehan Flour Mills stated its willingness to settle at the National Assembly Speaker's office, leading to the establishment of a settlement mediation table through the Democratic Party's 'Euljiro Committee.'
Daehan Flour Mills and Sevenbrau underwent about five months of mediation. An accounting verification was conducted to measure the exact amount of damages, and as a result, 6.8 billion won in damages was confirmed. An official from the Euljiro Committee stated, "Sevenbrau felt the damage amount was smaller than expected, but they were willing to accept it, whereas Daehan Flour Mills seemed to judge it as excessive."
Sevenbrau stated, "It is being reported as if we demanded 6.8 billion won, but that amount was not proposed by us. Daehan Flour Mills paid 30 million won to conduct the accounting verification, and we held meetings together with that report. We were told that the National Assembly asked (Daehan Flour Mills) to provide an answer on how much they could compensate, and they mentioned over the phone that they would pay 3 billion won. However, we heard that two days later, they reversed their position, saying they had decided not to pay compensation."
Daehan Flour Mills maintains that the 6.8 billion won cannot be considered damages. A Daehan Flour Mills official argued, "They measured all development costs incurred during the contract period as damages, which are not actual damages. Since (Sevenbrau's) operating profit over three years was 30 billion won, this cannot be considered a loss due to the contract termination."
The Euljiro Committee official explained, "Sevenbrau is in a situation where the conflict with Daehan Flour Mills has had a major impact, to the point of entering corporate rehabilitation. They had a large amount of finished inventory, and significant losses occurred when it all had to be discarded. When the dispute first started, Daehan Flour Mills barely considered compensation. The amount they proposed as compensation at the time was 100 million won. That was an absurd amount considering just the effort Sevenbrau put into product development. We pushed for accounting verification to determine exact damages, but currently, Daehan Flour Mills cannot accept it, so the settlement remains at a stalemate."
Recently, it was suggested that the settlement process between Sevenbrau and Daehan Flour Mills could be resumed. This is because there was talk that an individual with ties to Lee Jong-gak, Honorary Chairman of Daehan Flour Mills, was playing an intermediary role to facilitate the settlement and had relayed specific contents.
Sevenbrau stated, "We heard that a high-ranking official at Daehan Flour Mills offered 3 billion won in compensation and a contract for 'Gompyo Wheat Beer Season 3,' requesting an apology from Sevenbrau to Daehan Flour Mills in return. As we have been pursuing a settlement through the National Assembly, if Daehan Flour Mills proposes a settlement through their mediation, we are willing to accept it."
On the other hand, Daehan Flour Mills counters that they never proposed terms for damages and emphasized that they have no intention to settle. A Daehan Flour Mills official said, "We tried to resolve the issue through dialogue even while knowing that their claims for damages following a lawful contract termination were forced. However, Sevenbrau is misrepresenting our 'goodwill' as an admission of liability for compensation. The claim that we offered 3 billion won is untrue. We believe a legal resolution is the most clear-cut path."
The conflict between the two companies shows no signs of resolution. Daehan Flour Mills has warned of a hardline response, claiming that their brand image has been severely damaged by Sevenbrau.
Daehan Flour Mills stated, "Sevenbrau is highlighting themselves as a 'victim,' and our company is suddenly being cornered as a perpetrator, suffering great damage. Who is the real victim? It is Sevenbrau, not Daehan Flour Mills, that generated massive profits over the past three years. Currently, correcting the facts is the top priority because the damage to our brand image and losses are immense. Only after that can discussion (of a settlement) start again. We can no longer look on idly while our brand image is damaged and we suffer losses. We plan to do our utmost to respond by faithfully explaining the company's position to the media and others."