Homeplus Takes on COVID-19 Challenges with Unconventional and Unique Products

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Homeplus announced on the 15th that it will introduce unique products to stimulate consumption, which has been subdued due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

This month, Homeplus launched the ‘Non-Salty Dried Squid Body.’ This product is a conceptual shift from eating only squid legs at PC rooms or movie theaters, offering only the squid body.

The ‘Non-Salty Dried Squid Body’ is made by cheaply sourcing deep-sea squid and drying it naturally with sea breeze in Guryongpo for five days. The brine concentration is lowered to about 3%, compared to the average 5%, allowing anyone to enjoy a soft texture without burden. Consumer response has been enthusiastic, with dried squid sales increasing by 45% compared to the same period last year.

The ‘Four Types of Namul Cans’?canned vegetable side dishes?are also popular. These four types of namul cans contain sweet potato greens, dried radish greens (siraegi), gondre, and bracken, which were previously troublesome to prepare and had short shelf lives, often discarded before being fully consumed. They are boiled and sterilized for long-term storage, making them easy to cook anytime. Originally planned as exclusive products for 20 special stores, due to high demand, they will be expanded for sale nationwide and online this week.

Homeplus exclusively launched the ‘Domestic Biofloc Live Shrimp,’ which are ‘immature’ shrimp raised in a ‘vinyl greenhouse.’ Until now, customers mainly had to buy imported or frozen shrimp outside the domestic open-pond shrimp farming season (August to October). These shrimp are fed water-purifying microorganisms, resulting in less fishy smell, a chewy texture, and excellent sweetness, receiving positive feedback from customers.

The ‘Seasonally Frozen Jeju Yellow Croaker’ was planned for the first time this year to help customers consume yellow croaker affordably as an alternative seafood amid soaring prices of hairtail and squid due to decreased catches. Yellow croakers caught from Jeju’s clean waters between last November and this February are selected with a dedicated sorter and rapidly frozen in advance to reduce customers’ seafood price burdens.

Homeplus also introduced new products targeting the ‘Newtro’ trend. In collaboration with Lotte Chilsung Beverage, the ‘Del Monte Retro Edition’ is a set product combining Del Monte juice glass bottles, which were commonly used as barley tea bottles in households in the past, with orange and grape juices (each 1.5ℓ).

New products aimed at enthusiasts are also notable. The ‘Pork Loin Cap’ is a special cut, often called gabrisal or gaorisal in the market and sold at high prices, offered at around 2,000 KRW per 100g. Considering only about 250g is produced per pig, this is equivalent to the amount from four pigs.

Kim Woong, Head of Homeplus Product Division, said, “We are introducing differentiated new products beyond familiarity to help customers’ valuable consumption lifestyles. We will continue to expand investments to stably supply good products and support the recovery of the sluggish domestic economy.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.