GS25, Ready-to-Eat 'Instant Soup' Sales Jump 41.5% Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] GS25 is gaining positive responses with its home meal replacement (HMR) products targeting customers who want to enjoy a satisfying meal alone.

GS25 announced on the 17th that sales of home meal replacements increased by 39.4% from January to March 10 this year compared to the same period last year. Except for February 29 this year, related sales grew by 67.2% and 60.3% year-on-year in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Among home meal replacements, sales in the instant soup category led GS25’s HMR sales, increasing by 41.5% from January to March 10 this year compared to the same period last year, and by 73.7% and 68.1% year-on-year in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

In fact, GS25’s instant soup category traditionally consisted mainly of basic menus preferred by Koreans such as Miyeokguk (seaweed soup), Yukgaejang (spicy beef soup), and Haejang-guk (hangover soup), but with the growth of the HMR market, the menu has been diversifying and expanding to include Seolleongtang (ox bone soup), Dwaejigukbap (pork soup with rice), Mandutguk (dumpling soup), and Gyerang-guk (egg soup).

Accordingly, GS25 will exclusively launch the home meal replacement product ‘Hanchon Spicy Seolleongtang 500g’ on the 19th of this month in collaboration with Hanchon Seolleongtang. GS25’s Hanchon Spicy Seolleongtang is a differentiated product that packs the 39-year special recipe of Hanchon Seolleongtang into one pouch, made with a perfect blend of 48-hour boiled beef bone broth and brisket broth. The Seolleongtang broth is enhanced with seasoning sauce.

Following the strong customer response to the launch of ‘Hanchon Seolleongtang House Seolleongtang 500g’ in November last year, GS25 has decided to actively introduce this new Hanchon Spicy Seolleongtang. The Hanchon Seolleongtang House Seolleongtang consistently ranks around fifth place monthly in GS25’s instant soup category.

Lee Dahyun, GS25’s HMR MD, said, “To allow customers to enjoy a more convenient and hearty meal at nearby convenience stores, we partnered with Hanchon Seolleongtang, the top domestic Seolleongtang franchise with 39 years of tradition, to present a differentiated product. Going forward, GS25 will continue to expand its lineup of convenient meals that enable busy modern people to quickly and perfectly complete a meal while also taking care of taste and nutrition, leading the domestic food culture.”

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