Pulmuone 'Yalpi Mandu' Sold Over 20 Million Packs in Just One Year Since Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Sunghye] Amid the recent surge in consumption of home meal replacements (HMR) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cumulative sales of "Pulmuone Yalpi Mandu," which has led the "thin skin" trend, have surpassed 20 million packs.

Pulmuone Foods announced on the 13th that its "Pulmuone Thin Skin Fully Filled Dumplings," launched at the end of March last year, recorded cumulative sales of 21.14 million packs last month, selling over 20 million packs within just one year of release.

Yalpi Mandu became a mega-hit product by selling 10 million packs in just seven months after its launch in November last year. Following this, its popularity rose even more steeply, allowing an additional 10 million packs to be sold within five months. Especially during the winter peak season, demand increased to the point that supply was insufficient even with full factory operation.

Thanks to the success of Yalpi Mandu, Pulmuone's frozen dumpling sales grew by 65% last year, and this year’s sales target is set at 100 billion KRW. Yalpi Mandu has become the growth engine for Pulmuone’s frozen HMR business. Previously recognized mainly as a leader in fresh foods such as tofu, bean sprouts, and eggs, Pulmuone has newly emerged as a dark horse in frozen HMR, ranking second in the domestic frozen HMR market last year.

In November last year, the online sales ratio of Yalpi Mandu rose to around 30%. At that time, Pulmuone launched a trendy new product favored by younger consumers, the "Thin Skin Fully Filled Spicy Pepper Mandu," which features a sharp spicy flavor, drawing explosive responses from the millennial generation. Additionally, Pulmuone collaborated with 11st to participate in the "11th Festival," significantly boosting the online sales ratio of Yalpi Mandu.

Hong Taegwan, Mandu CM of Pulmuone Foods FRM Business Division, said, "The online sales proportion of Yalpi Mandu is steadily rising to around 24%, maintaining strong online sales performance. Considering that products mainly targeting customers in their 50s and 60s have an online sales ratio of about 5%, exceeding 20% indicates continuous online repurchases by the millennial generation."

The secret to Pulmuone Yalpi Mandu capturing the millennial palate also lies in its differentiated taste and shape. It succeeded in differentiation by using an ultra-thin skin of 0.7 mm, half the thickness of typical frozen dumpling skins (1.5 mm), and shaping the dumplings in a so-called "water drop" form.

Hong CM added, "We plan to work harder to make Yalpi Mandu a long-lasting product and, further, a brand. To this end, we will increase accessibility through various channels and continuously introduce new lineups."

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