Foodservice Industry Targets 'Honseoljok' with HMR During Lunar New Year Holiday

Ododok Spicy Jjangachi by School Food. Photo by School Food

The food and dining industry is introducing various HMR products to target the growing number of single-person diners. Meal kits are affordable and convenient for individuals to enjoy alone in this era of high prices, and with a wide variety ranging from Korean to Western cuisine, they have emerged as a good alternative for the ‘Gwipojok’ who gave up returning home for this Lunar New Year holiday.

According to the dining industry on the 21st, School Food has reinvented the pickled vegetables used in its signature dishes, ‘Mozzarella Spam Egg Mari’ and ‘Jangjorim Butter Bibimbap,’ into meal kits so that consumers can easily enjoy jangajji at home.

School Food’s ‘Ododok Spicy Jangajji’ is a meal kit product boasting a crunchy texture and spicy umami flavor, serving as a versatile side dish that can be paired with various Korean dishes such as fried rice, gimbap, and stews. Notably, it undergoes a total of 23 rigorous processing steps at the company’s manufacturing plant, including a patented seven-step pickling process with added honey. As of last year, sales surpassed approximately 400,000 units, maintaining steady popularity.

Tteokguk (rice cake soup) is indispensable during the Lunar New Year. Myeonsarang, a noodle and sauce specialist company, launched frozen meal kits ‘Sagol Tteok Manduguk’ and ‘Maesaengi Oyster Tteokguk’ in December last year. The rice cakes in these two products are made by soaking glutinous rice, grinding it, and kneading it multiple times, allowing consumers to enjoy tteokguk without the hassle of preparing ingredients, simply by following an easy cooking process.

The Born Korea collaborated with the Fisheries Cooperative to introduce the convenient meal ‘Suhyup Baek Jong-won’s Nostalgic Braised Mackerel.’ This product features domestically sourced mackerel directly purchased by Suhyup, combined with Baek Jong-won’s unique recipe. The meal kit contains individually packaged mackerel, vegetables, and sauce. After thawing the frozen mackerel in cold water, consumers just need to put water, sauce, vegetables, and mackerel into a pot to easily enjoy nutritious braised mackerel at home, making it perfect not only for single-person households but also for families.

Besides Korean cuisine, Western-style single-serving HMR products are also being launched. Ashley Home Store, operated by E-Land Eats, introduced three types of ‘Quick & Easy Single-Serving Pasta Meal Kits’ to meet customers’ increasing demand for shorter cooking times. Using pre-cooked pasta that can be prepared in just 20 seconds, the meal kits can be cooked within 9 minutes, drawing attention as a meal option for single-person households.

An industry insider said, “As single-person households increase, the industry is launching meal kits and single-serving menus targeting this key consumer group. Recently, to satisfy the diverse needs of single-person households, there is a trend toward segmentation, such as significantly reducing portion sizes or releasing meal kits that cook even faster.”

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