'BLACKPINK Jennie Snack' Air Baked Craze... Achieves 2.5 Billion KRW Sales in One Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Lotte Confectionery announced on the 13th that its new concept snack launched in June, ‘Air Baked,’ achieved sales of 2.5 billion KRW within just one month of release.

In the food industry, a new product is considered a hit if it sells more than 1 billion KRW per month. Considering this, the first-month sales performance of ‘Air Baked’ far exceeded expectations and stands out even when compared to recently launched new products.

‘Air Baked’ is a snack brand baked with hot air in a specially designed oven instead of being fried. It offers a light and clean taste without oiliness and features a crispy texture. Additionally, since it is not fried in oil, its fat content is more than 60% lower compared to regular snacks.

The secret to ‘Air Baked’s popularity lies in accurately capturing market trends by considering health while preserving the original taste of snacks. According to the trend prediction system ‘Elsia,’ consumers tend to focus more on taste rather than simply seeking products with a healthy concept. Although the tendency to look for healthy products has increased, ultimately consumers want food that is both delicious and healthy. To meet these consumer needs, ‘Air Baked’ devoted great effort to ‘taste,’ undergoing about one year of development and over a thousand tests.

The big model strategy for ‘Air Baked’ also proved effective. Since it is a product in a new category not present in the market, the strategy was to quickly raise awareness by appointing a fitting big model. They selected Jennie of BLACKPINK, one of the top stars of the era, as the model. Lotte Confectionery prominently featured Jennie and carried out various promotions including new advertisements and events, receiving positive responses. The ‘Air Baked’ advertisement featuring Jennie has surpassed 14 million views to date.

‘Air Baked’ comes in two types: ‘Potato’ and ‘Popchip.’ ‘Air Baked Potato’ applies a ‘marinade method’ that adds seasoning to the blended ingredients to enhance flavor, maximizing the taste of potatoes. ‘Air Baked Popchip’ is made by popping rice, corn, chickpeas, peas, and purple sweet potatoes through heat and pressure. Since it is not fried in oil, the original flavor of the ingredients is more pronounced. Additionally, Camembert cheese is added to provide a savory and slightly salty flavor.

Meanwhile, Lotte Confectionery plans to continuously strengthen marketing related to ‘Air Baked’ and develop it into a mega brand comparable to the top domestic snack, Kkokkalcorn.

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