"Sweet Returns" Diabetes-Themed Stocks Smile Amid Tanghulu Craze

'Tanghuru' Thinly Coated with Sugar Syrup
May Cause Health Issues Like Diabetes

As the traditional Chinese dessert 'Tanghulu' gains popularity mainly among young people and the trend for 'sweetness' rises, diabetes-related stocks are rapidly emerging.

i-SENS, the domestic market leader in self-monitoring blood glucose devices, has seen its stock price jump 53% in the past six months. Based on the year's highest price recorded on the 8th, the increase exceeds 117%.

Peptron, which is developing treatments for diabetes and obesity, also surged 440% during the same period. According to the Korea Exchange on the 20th, Peptron closed at 40,500 won, up 9.46% from the previous trading day.

According to Woowa Brothers' 'Baemin Trend 2023 Fall/Winter Edition,' the search volume for Tanghulu on Baedal Minjok increased 47.3 times in July compared to January this year.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, as Tanghulu gained popularity mainly among young people, concerns about health issues such as diabetes arose. Tanghulu is a representative Chinese street food where fruit is skewered and coated with sugar syrup.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency and others, one Tanghulu typically contains 10 to 25 grams of sugar. Eating just one Tanghulu means consuming half of the recommended daily sugar intake (50g). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends consuming less than 25g of sugar per day.

With international sugar prices reaching a 12-year high, the stock prices of sugar production companies are also on the rise. Previously, major sugarcane-producing countries such as Brazil, India, and Thailand experienced poor harvests due to abnormal weather, causing international sugar prices to surge.

As a result, the stock price of Daehan Sugar, which develops sugar and sugar substitutes, jumped as much as 14% intraday on the 13th, and the stock price of Neocrema, a producer of oligosaccharides, a sugar substitute, also rose 4.2% this month, with expected spillover benefits.

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