‘Eoljuka’ MZ Generation... Ice Cups and Iced Americano Selling Fast Even in Midwinter

Increase in Sales of Cold Products at Convenience Stores

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] Despite the cold weather, cold products such as ice cups and iced Americanos are selling like hotcakes at convenience stores. This is analyzed to be because the trend of Eoljuka (iced drinks no matter how cold) has become dominant among the main customer base, the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

According to the convenience store industry on the 17th, GS25's ice cup sales increased by 18% compared to the previous year from the 1st of last month to the 15th of this month. CU (24.7%), 7-Eleven (19.2%), and Emart24 (29%) also saw significant increases. The number of people seeking iced coffee is also rising. GS25's iced coffee sales increased by 23.5% compared to last year, while hot coffee sales grew by only 8.8%.

Ice cream, a representative summer product, is also popular. Especially due to the COVID-19 impact, as people spend more time at home, whole ice cream bars are driving overall sales rather than bar-shaped ice cream. GS25's ice cream sales increased by 15.8%, and CU (7.9%), 7-Eleven (5.2%), and Emart24 (14%) also saw growth.

The convenience store industry has started preparations for the early spring and summer seasons earlier than usual. CU released its own pouch beverage "Delape," a representative summer product, three weeks earlier than last year. A BGF Retail official said, "As relatively warm weather continues, sales of cup ice and ice cream are rising," adding, "Therefore, we released the pouch beverage the fastest in the industry."

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