Retail Industry Targets 'Honseoljok'...Lunchboxes and Meal Kits Gain Popularity

Holiday table setting composed of Korean dishes from GS Retail Simply Cook.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] As the number of 'Honsoljok' spending Lunar New Year alone at home due to the impact of COVID-19 increases, the distribution industry has launched a large number of lunchbox and convenience food products.

On the 29th, GS Retail announced that it will hold the 'Simply Cook Lunar New Year Special Exhibition' through GS Fresh Mall until the 3rd of next month. It consists of 29 Korean food menu items, with a maximum discount rate of 50%.

According to GS Retail's analysis of sales during the week before last year's Lunar New Year holiday, the meal kit brand Simply Cook's sales increased by 50.1% compared to the same period of the previous month. In particular, sales of Korean food menus grew significantly by 125.3%. Among all menus, the top-selling item was Seoul-style Sobulgoji Jeongol. Korean food menus with significant changes in sales rankings were Bindaetteok and Jeon varieties. Nokdu Bindaetteok rose from 37th to 7th place, Meat Bindaetteok from 38th to 11th, Meat Wanja Jeon from 41st to 14th, and Seafood Bindaetteok from 44th to 18th. Orders for domestically produced boneless pork ribs stew and long-simmered Hannanju Gomtang, which had previously remained outside the top 10, also increased significantly, ranking 5th and 9th respectively.

Convenience stores also sell Lunar New Year lunchboxes and convenience foods. GS25 launched two products, Hoho Holiday Lunchbox and Hoho Mandutguk, which can create a Lunar New Year atmosphere. CU released the Bok Mani Lunchbox, which has about 20% more content compared to existing lunchboxes. According to GS25, lunchbox product sales during last year's Lunar New Year holiday period increased by 230% compared to the same period of the previous month. At CU, lunchbox sales during the Lunar New Year holiday period increased by 22.3% in 2019, 26.7% in 2020, and 30.8% in 2021 compared to the previous week over the past three years. By location, single-person households concentrated in one-room apartments, officetels, and other single-residence areas showed more than 30% higher average daily lunchbox sales per store during the holiday period compared to general locations. At Seven Eleven, sales of lunchboxes (34.0%), frozen convenience foods (17.7%), side dishes (10.5%), vegetables (41.3%), and seasonings (14.8%) also increased during last year's Lunar New Year holiday period compared to the previous year.

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