This Lunar New Year, 'Eco-friendly' Meets 'Local' to Change the Gift Market Landscape

Shinsegae Department Store, Eco-friendly and Local Brands as the Trend
20% Growth in Jeju Hallabong and Hoengseong Hanwoo
Increased Preference for Safe Food Certification, Eco-friendly Packaging, and Practical Sets

Shinsegae Jeju Winter Fruit Set (Photo by Shinsegae Department Store).

The concept of 'eco-friendly' is meeting local brands and changing the landscape of holiday gift-giving.

Local brands are those that have branded regional specialties, often produced in small quantities compared to mass-market products, but they frequently offer reasonable prices, practical packaging, and excellent quality. Brands like Gyeongju Cheonnyeon Hanwoo and Daegu Palgong Cham Hanwoo are representative local brands that have grown by combining the region's nature, culture, and tradition with high-quality Hanwoo beef products.

Shinsegae Department Store announced on the 17th that, based on an analysis of the 2023 Lunar New Year main sales gift set trends, gift sets certified as eco-friendly and safe food, as well as those from excellent local brands, grew by more than 20% compared to last year’s Lunar New Year. Local brand Hanwoo such as Gyeongju Cheonnyeon Hanwoo and Daegu Palgong Cham Hanwoo grew by 25%, and organic and eco-friendly certified gift sets like Shinsegae Jeju Silver Hairtail (23%), Jeju Hallabong, and Apple Mango (20%) exceeded the overall growth rate of Shinsegae Department Store’s Lunar New Year gift sets (8.7%).

Due to the trend of safe food and eco-friendly packaging combined with the impact of high inflation, more customers are seeking practical value for the same price, leading to increased attention on products from local brands that offer excellent quality and price competitiveness. Until last Chuseok, these excellent local brands were only available through SSG.com’s Shinsegae Department Store Mall, but starting this Lunar New Year, they have been introduced in holiday catalogs as well, expanding offline sales channels and increasing consumer touchpoints.

Hoengseong Hanwoo Manbok, Dabok, and Obok sets, which are considered precious Hanwoo as they account for only 1.5% of the cattle slaughtered annually in Korea, were introduced for the first time through offline catalogs this Lunar New Year as representative gift sets. Featuring popular configurations such as grilled meat and bulgogi, all prepared stock is being sold out.

The variety of product configurations has also expanded. As customer interest in animal welfare, organic, and antibiotic-free certifications, as well as the 'strictness' of the production process, has increased, related items have roughly doubled compared to last year. With ongoing environmental concerns such as the anti-plastic movement, the number of low-carbon and HACCP-certified fruit items has also more than doubled.

Shinsegae is also leading a 'zero waste holiday culture' by switching to eco-friendly packaging for its products. Since Chuseok 2021, paper boxes have been produced using uncoated recycled paper printed with soybean oil ink to reduce the use of chemical materials. Last Chuseok, paper fruit baskets were created to provide an environment where customers can practice eco-friendly consumption themselves.

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