Western-style Snack Meals Gain Popularity Alongside Wine... Shinsegae Food's 'Olban Hanjanhalrae' Sales Up 36%

Shinsegae Food's easy side dish meal kit 'Olban Hanjan Halle' product image. (Photo by Shinsegae Food)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] As the number of home drinkers enjoying wine at home has increased due to COVID-19, Western-style snack convenience foods that pair well with wine are also gaining popularity.

According to Shinsegae Food on the 14th, sales of five types of snack convenience foods under the ‘Olban Hanjan Halle’ line (Dongpa-yuk, Bulnan Garlic Jokbal, Gambas, Jjukkumi Samgyeopsal, Seafood Nurungji) from January to June this year increased by 36% compared to the same period last year. In particular, the sales growth rate of Gambas, a representative wine snack, was the highest at 51%.

Shinsegae Food’s ‘Olban Hanjan Halle’ Gambas is a product that implements the representative Spanish dish Gambas as a convenience food. Depending on preference, adding bread or noodles to the sauce makes it suitable as a meal. It is convenient as it only needs to be heated in the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the container.

Shinsegae Food analyzed that this increase in sales volume is due to a significant rise in consumers purchasing wine for home drinking and Western-style snack convenience foods together at convenience stores amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, wine sales at GS25 convenience stores, where Shinsegae Food’s ‘Olban Hanjan Halle’ is sold, increased by 131% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.

To continue the sales growth of these Western-style snack convenience foods, Shinsegae Food plans to actively target home drinkers who prefer wine by releasing two additional products, Mac and Cheese and Meatball Gratin, besides the ‘Olban Hanjan Halle’ Gambas. They also plan to expand the sales channels of ‘Olban Hanjan Halle,’ which is mainly sold at convenience stores, to online platforms to further strengthen their approach to home drinkers.

A Shinsegae Food official said, “The domestic snack convenience food market size was 100 billion KRW last year, growing fivefold compared to 19.6 billion KRW in 2016, four years ago. With the fourth resurgence of COVID-19, the home drinking culture is expected to become more firmly established, so we plan to actively target the market by expanding product lineups and sales channels.”

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