"Winter Calls for Dongchimi"... Shinsegae Food Launches Olban Refreshingly Crisp Dongchimi

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Shinsegae Food announced on the 16th that it is launching ‘Olban Refreshingly Crisp Dongchimi’ to target the winter specialty kimchi market.

Shinsegae Food focused on the increasing consumption of specialty kimchi amid the annually growing packaged kimchi market. According to the Food Industry Statistics System, the retail market size of kimchi was 260 billion KRW in 2019, a rise of about 24% compared to 210.2 billion KRW in 2017. Among this, the proportion of baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi) decreased from 83.8% in 2017 to 78.7% last year, while specialty kimchi (other kimchi excluding baechu kimchi) increased from 16.2% to 21.3%. This is interpreted as being due to the lower consumption volume of specialty kimchi compared to baechu kimchi and the inconvenience of making it at home, leading more consumers to purchase products sold in the market. Another key factor is that various specialty kimchi products are being released by different companies.

Accordingly, Shinsegae Food collaborated with E-Mart Traders to launch ‘Olban Refreshingly Crisp Dongchimi,’ allowing consumers to enjoy the representative winter kimchi, dongchimi, conveniently and cleanly, thereby entering the specialty kimchi market.

Shinsegae Food’s ‘Olban Refreshingly Crisp Dongchimi’ is made by cutting fresh domestic radishes into bite-sized pieces, then pickling them with mineral-rich sun-dried salt and the kimchi lactic acid bacteria ‘Leuconostoc.’ This process preserves the unique crisp and refreshing taste of dongchimi for a long time. Additionally, it uses abundant fresh domestic agricultural products such as pear, garlic, ginger, onion, green chili, and red chili to create a cool and clean dongchimi broth flavor. Notably, it is packaged as a set of two 1.2kg small packs, enhancing storage convenience.

‘Olban Refreshingly Crisp Dongchimi’ is available nationwide at E-Mart Traders, priced reasonably at 11,980 KRW (2.4kg).

A Shinsegae Food official said, “The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for home-cooked meals, leading to growth in the packaged kimchi market, a representative home side dish menu. Since we have introduced dongchimi, a representative winter specialty kimchi, made with good ingredients at a reasonable price, we expect it to receive great responses from home meal consumers.”

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