"Insufficient Lunchboxes" Complaints... Convenience Stores Strengthen New Menu Items One After Another

As Demand for 'Hope Meal Voucher' Rises, New Low-Sodium and Low-Calorie Products Launched
Additional 10% Price Discount with Telecom Overlapping Discounts and Coupon Events

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Convenience stores are competing to launch new lunchbox menus to capture the demand for the 'Hope Meal Voucher' provided to elementary, middle, and high school students in the Seoul area. As students and parents voiced complaints about the limited available products and insufficient quantities, convenience stores diversified their offerings, hurried to release new products, and increased lunchbox order volumes at each store.

According to the convenience store industry on the 29th, Seven Eleven recently launched four new lunchbox types, including 'Beef Bulgogi Rice Bowl' and 'Charcoal Grilled Chicken Galbi Rice Bowl,' along with two types of sandwiches.

Currently, lunchboxes purchasable with the Hope Meal Voucher must meet the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's school meal standards, including sodium content below 1067 mg, calories below 990 kcal, and protein below 11.7 g. Seven Eleven's 'One Full Meal Rice Bowl' lunchbox is designed to meet these standards by balancing the five major nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins, and is priced at an affordable 3,900 KRW for students.

Seven Eleven plans to release additional lunchbox products eligible for voucher use soon. They are also running a promotion where customers who pay over 5,000 KRW with the voucher and accumulate points via the mobile app (Seven App) receive a 2,000 KRW mobile gift certificate.

GS25 introduced 11 types of lunchboxes?the industry's largest selection?that can be purchased with the meal voucher, based on detailed nutritional criteria and analysis of menus preferred by teenagers. Products such as 'Gojinman Lunchbox,' 'Hambak & Chicken Lunchbox,' 'Soya & Donkatsu Lunchbox,' and 'Chicken Lunchbox' all comply with Seoul school meal standards.

GS25 is focusing on ensuring these lunchboxes are sold at all stores in Seoul at all times and significantly increasing order volumes so that students can reliably purchase high-quality meals.

CU introduced a 'Full Nutrition Labeling System' that expands the display of calorie and sodium content on lunchbox products by more than tenfold, making it easier to identify voucher-eligible products.

They also launched three 'One Meal Diet' lunchboxes (Spicy Pork, Donkatsu, Soy Sauce Braised Chicken) with reduced calories and sodium. These products are based on CU's own ready-meal nutrition standards and the calorie and nutrient information from the Ministry of Health and Welfare's '2020 Korean Nutrient Intake Standards,' containing 600?800 kcal and sodium below 650 mg.

Emart24 is also planning to release two to three new lunchbox products next month that meet the Hope Meal Voucher usage criteria. Emart24 is running an event where customers who purchase products with the Hope Meal Voucher and scan the integrated barcode on the mobile app receive five 1,000 KRW mobile coupons after five purchases.

Convenience store companies commonly offer a basic 10% discount and an additional 10% telecom carrier overlapping discount when purchasing with the Hope Meal Voucher. The voucher can be used until July 16 at six convenience store chains in Seoul (GS25, CU, Seven Eleven, Ministop, C Space, Emart24), totaling 8,819 stores. If not used within the period, the voucher will automatically expire and be reclaimed.

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