Due to soaring dining-out prices... "Cost-effective convenience store lunchboxes are making a comeback"

'Kim Hyeja Dosirak' Nears 1 Million Sales in 3 Weeks
Rising Demand for Affordable Convenience Store Lunchboxes Amid High Inflation

GS25 'Hyejaroun Jipbap Ojingeo Bulgogi'

As dining-out prices continue to soar day after day, putting pressure on consumers' wallets, the convenience store industry is actively introducing budget-friendly lunchbox products priced around 5,000 won to attract customers.

According to the industry on the 7th, GS25's "Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox," which was re-released last month after six years, marking the "return of the king," sold 890,000 units within 19 days of its launch. This means an average of more than 45,000 units were sold daily, and considering the current sales pace, it is expected to surpass 1 million units sold cumulatively within this week. The Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox, released in two varieties?"Generous Home-cooked Squid Bulgogi" and "Generous Home-cooked Spicy Pork Stir-fry"?ranked first and second respectively in GS25's lunchbox sales rankings as of March.

First launched in 2010, the Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox created the neologism "Hyeja-seureopda," meaning affordable price with generous portions, and sold about 260 million units until 2017. The reappearance of the Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox, which led the convenience store lunchbox craze, is due to the recent prolonged high inflation increasing demand for cost-effective lunchboxes. A GS25 representative said, "Since the Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox represents the keywords of high quality, cost-effectiveness, and sharing, we carefully considered taste, nutrition, and value for money," adding, "We will focus on expanding the lunchbox lineup in the future to contribute to price stabilization." The regular price of this Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox is 5,500 won, but with various discounts applied, the price can drop to as low as 3,250 won.

CU 'Baek Jong-won Triple Series'

As GS25 pulled out the Kim Hye-ja card, CU responded by unveiling the card of Baek Jong-won, the patriarch of the dining industry and CEO of The Born Korea. The "Baek Jong-won Triple Lunchbox," launched on the 16th of last month in collaboration with Baek, has sold about 400,000 units, receiving a response comparable to the Kim Hye-ja Lunchbox. During the same period, the entire "Baek Jong-won Triple Series," including lunchboxes, triangle kimbap, kimbap, and hamburgers, sold about 650,000 units. Named "Triple" to emphasize the use of three main ingredients for generous portions, the Baek Jong-won Triple Series offers all products, including the flagship Triple Meat Set Lunchbox, Triple Mushroom Burger, and Triple Cheese Pasta, at prices around 5,000 won to reduce the burden on consumers.

Emart24 also saw success with its "39 Lunchbox" and "42 Lunchbox," launched last month at affordable prices of 3,900 won and 4,200 won respectively, competing for first and second place in the lunchbox category sales. Emart24's lunchbox sales increased by 29% over the previous month during the four days from its launch on the 27th of last month to the 2nd of this month, thanks to the positive response to the 39 Lunchbox. An Emart24 representative analyzed, "Our ultra-low-price strategy was effective by selecting one or two popular side dishes from each manufacturing plant, mass-producing them, and composing the 39 Lunchbox with those side dishes to lower the unit cost."

Recently, dining-out prices have continued to rise daily, with the average prices of bibimbap and naengmyeon exceeding 10,000 won, increasing the burden on households. According to the Korea Consumer Agency's comprehensive price information portal, Chamgagyeok, the average price of eight representative dining-out items in Seoul in January this year rose 10.8% compared to the same period last year. In particular, bibimbap rose 8.8% to 10,000 won, and naengmyeon increased 9.0% to 10,692 won, surpassing the 10,000 won mark. Jajangmyeon also rose 13.9% to 6,569 won from 5,769 won in the same month last year, approaching the 7,000 won range.

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