Parents Struggling with Delayed School Openings... Snacks and Convenience Foods Selling Like Hotcakes

Purchasing Snacks and Convenience Foods for Children Unable to Go Outside Due to COVID-19
Hot Dogs and Donkatsu Sales Soar in February... Preferred by Dual-Income Couples and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the start of the school year for elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide has been postponed, and as remote work has spread, the popularity of snack-type convenience foods that can be easily enjoyed at home is increasing.

According to Shinsegae Food on the 23rd, sales of frozen snacks such as ‘Olban Chal Hot Dog’ and ‘Olban Super Crunch Chicken Tender’ and refrigerated snacks such as ‘Olban One-Bite Soup Tteokbokki’ and ‘Olban Jjolbokki’ increased by 37% and 33% respectively compared to the previous month. In particular, sales of hot dog products like ‘Olban Chal Hot Dog’ and ‘Olban Mozzarella Cheddar Chal Hot Dog,’ which can be conveniently and safely enjoyed using a microwave, increased by as much as 72%.

Shinsegae Food analyzed that this increase in sales is due to more parents purchasing snack-type convenience foods for children who cannot engage in outdoor activities because of COVID-19. Especially among dual-income parents, the preference for hot dogs, pizzas, and other items that children can safely and easily prepare in the microwave without separate cooking is cited as one of the causes.

Last month, sales in the frozen frying snack category (hot dogs, cutlets, chicken, cheese balls, fried seaweed rolls, etc.) at CJ CheilJedang also increased by 50% compared to the previous month. The 'Gourmet Donkatsu,' launched in June last year, differs from existing products that were made by coating raw meat with breadcrumbs and then freezing immediately, by applying a 'pre-frying' method where the pork cutlet is fried at high temperature. It is evaluated to have restaurant-level taste quality along with cooking ease specialized for air fryers.

For Dongwon F&B, sales of the ‘Tteokbokki Master’ cup tteokbokki 3 types (spicy sweet tteokbokki, extra spicy tteokbokki, savory cheese tteokbokki) increased by 110% compared to the same period last year. Dongwon F&B’s product is a 100% rice tteokbokki that can be stored at room temperature and enjoyed conveniently anytime and anywhere. This product can be easily enjoyed by pouring the included sauce, adding water, and microwaving for just 3 minutes.

Pulmuone’s total sales of frozen snacks last month increased about 1.5 times compared to the previous month. In particular, ‘Mozzarella Cheese Balls’ and ‘Ang Cream Cheese Balls’ showed the largest change with a 186% sales increase. Although pizza showed a smaller change of 12.8%, it has been continuously growing since its launch in December last year. Toy Cookies, a product aimed at children, also saw a 173% increase in sales.

GS Retail’s meal kit brand Simply Cook saw a 353.2% surge in sales over two weeks (February 19 to March 3) for snack menu products favored by children, including ▲Cheese Jjajang Tteokbokki ▲Egg in Hell ▲Hamburg Steak ▲Tok Tok Cream Pane Pasta.

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