New Trends in the Untact Era: "Subscribing to Snacks, Ice Cream, and Even Makgeolli"

Consumers Prefer Contactless Due to COVID-19 and More
From Side Dishes and Milk to Snacks and Alcohol Subscription
No Need for Individual Payments, Convenient... Food Industry Sales Soar

Lotte Confectionery Snack Subscription Service 'Monthly Snack'

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Kim Cheol-hee (29), an office worker living in Mapo-gu, Seoul, drinks a cup of specialty coffee as soon as he wakes up in the morning. He can enjoy high-quality coffee without having to stop by a coffee shop because he receives various coffee beans delivered to his home every week. On his way to work, he stops by a bakery near his office, which he prepaid for a month, to pick up a sandwich. On weekends, he invites friends over to enjoy 'home drinking.' Since he uses a makgeolli + jeon set that is automatically delivered once a week, no special preparation is needed.

With the advent of the full-fledged untact (contactless) era, the subscription economy market size in the food and dining industry is expanding. The subscription economy is a new economic model where customers pay a fee to regularly receive products or use services unlimitedly for a certain period. Due to the psychological burden of face-to-face services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the sharing economy has slowed down, while the subscription economy has established itself as the mainstream due to the increase in online-centered untact consumption. The food subscription sector, which was limited to side dishes or milk, has diversified to include coffee, sandwiches, and alcoholic beverages.

According to the distribution industry on the 7th, recently, subscriptions have become available for snacks such as cookies and ice cream, as well as simple foods like burgers and sandwiches. Lotte Confectionery plans to launch the second recruitment for 'Monthly Snacks' this month. Monthly Snacks is a snack subscription service first introduced by Lotte Confectionery in June, the first among confectionery companies. It allows customers to receive newly composed snack packages every month at prices cheaper than market prices. In mid-last month, they also launched the industry's first ice cream subscription service, 'Monthly Natulu.' Through Paris Baguette and Burger King, customers can subscribe regularly to coffee, sandwiches, and hamburgers.

Baesangmyeon Brewery is running a subscription program on Neurinmaeul Homsul.com.

The expansion of subscription services in the beverage and alcoholic beverage industry is also a new change. Baesangmyeon Brewery opened an online shopping mall, Homesul.com, in January to match the 'home drinking' trend. The main products sold are makgeolli varieties such as 'Neurin Maeul Makgeolli' and home meal replacement (HMR) type side dishes like 'Neurin Maeul Assorted Jeon.' Delivery can be requested in 1, 2, or 4-week intervals. Daily Shot offers a service where, for a monthly subscription fee of about 9,900 won, members can receive a drink every day at affiliated pubs or bars.

Along with the 'home cafe' trend, premium coffee beans have also caught the subscription economy wave. At DFD Life & Culture Group's complex cultural space Nine Block and specialty coffee edit shop Black Water Port, regular delivery services have been introduced to allow customers to receive various coffees periodically.

The popularity of regular subscription services from existing food companies is also soaring. Dongwon Home Food's 'The Banchan&' (formerly The Banchan) regular delivery service users have increased by an average of 15% per month since February. From February to July, the number of users grew 50% compared to the same period last year. The number of consumers using It’s On home meal replacements (HMR) and meal kit regular delivery on Korea Yakult's online mall 'HiFresh' has increased by an average of 12% per month this year. Especially in March, when the spread of COVID-19 was prominent, users grew 51% compared to the previous month.

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