Early Heatwave... Intense Competition in Cafe Industry for Launching 'Summer Limited Menus'

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] As an earlier-than-usual heatwave is forecasted, the competition among cafes to launch summer season limited menus is intensifying. According to data released by the Korea Meteorological Administration, March recorded the second highest average temperature since 1973, and the weather outlook from this month through July is expected to be generally hotter than usual.

With the early onset of heat, summer limited menus are gaining significant attention. Various cafes are catching eyes by reintroducing last year’s popular menus or offering unique bingsu (shaved ice) menus exclusively for the summer season.

On the 17th, industry sources reported that the coffee specialty brand Paik’s Coffee re-launched four types of the summer season limited 'Wanjeon Jadu' (Complete Plum) and 'Wanjeon Boksunga' (Complete Peach) series. Last year, Paik’s Coffee’s ‘Wanjeon Juice’ series sold about 1.5 million cups, and juice beverages were highly favored due to the heatwave, so the new 'Wanjeon Jadu' and 'Wanjeon Boksunga' are expected to continue receiving positive responses. The two products are characterized by their rich and refreshing sweet and sour fruit flavors made by blending the fruit pulp. Customers can also enjoy ‘Jadu Ade’ (Plum Ade) and ‘Boksunga Ade’ (Peach Ade), which add carbonation to the rich fruit base, according to their preference.

Two retro drinks were also reintroduced. ‘Danho-bak Sikhye’ (Sweet Pumpkin Sikhye), which captures the sweetness of sweet pumpkin, and ‘Misutgaru’ (Roasted Grain Powder Drink), made smoother and nuttier using a blender, are available throughout the summer season.

Starbucks introduced the ‘Coconut White Cold Brew,’ a drink harmoniously blending the nutty flavor of coconut with carefully brewed cold brew coffee. It features a sweet and smooth cream foam made from tropical coconut fruit and the clean umami taste of cold brew. They also launched the ‘Black Waffle Chip Cream Frappuccino,’ which grinds whole black waffle chip cookies to give a dessert-and-drink combined experience, and the ‘Peach Jelly Iced Tea,’ which contains subtle black tea, chewy jelly texture, and the full flavor of peach.

Gongcha Korea presented various limited menus combining their steady-selling yogurt item with the mango series they release every spring and summer. Among them, two refreshing crush drinks to enjoy summer a bit earlier stand out. The ‘Yogurt Jewelry Mango Crush’ offers a cool sensation with the sweet and tangy taste of mango and yogurt blended with crushed ice, while the ‘Mango Tropical Heart Crush’ uses a tropical fruit base made from mango and passion fruit to intensify the mango flavor.

Twosome Place launched four types of bingsu targeting this summer. The ‘Spanish Latte Cake Bingsu’ is a premium bingsu topped with Spanish condensed milk latte over milk ice, generous pieces of Dalgona (Korean honeycomb toffee), and tiramisu cake. They also introduced the ‘Yogurt Berry Cake Bingsu’ topped with a sweet and tangy yogurt berry frappe, along with the season-limited bestsellers ‘Original Patbingsu’ (red bean shaved ice) and ‘Mango Bingsu.’

Droptop released six types of their signature bingsu ‘Ice Top’ ahead of the summer peak season. The signature bingsu Ice Top is a menu that has consistently been popular with customers every year. This year’s Ice Top maintains the same price as last year but offers 20% more toppings such as gelato, injeolmi (Korean rice cake), Dalgona, and marshmallows, making it a more abundant snowflake bingsu. Considering diverse customer preferences, they launched three new bingsu flavors?Dalgona, corn cheese, and brown sugar?as well as renewed three existing steady-seller bingsu menus.

Pascucci introduced four types of summer season limited bingsu featuring exotic fruits. The new products highlight refreshing flavors using various fruits such as pomelo (Cheongjamong), plum, and mango. The lineup includes ‘Jadu Berry Bead Bingsu,’ ‘Cheongjamong Real Bingsu,’ ‘Apple Mango Full Bingsu,’ and ‘Injeolmi Patbingsu.’ These four bingsu types can also be ordered for delivery through the Happy Order application without visiting the store.

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