'K-Street Food' Captures Global Taste... Bibigo Bungeoppang and Tteokbokki Gain Popularity

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'Bungeoppang, Tteokbokki, Twigim, Gimbap, Hotteok.' CJ CheilJedang's Bibigo ‘K-Street Food’ is gaining popularity both domestically and internationally with its differentiated taste and quality.

According to CJ CheilJedang on the 2nd, the three types of ‘Bibigo Bungeoppang’ (red bean paste, custard cream, sweet corn), launched domestically in August last year, each sold over 1 billion KRW in November and December of the same year. The crispy and chewy texture brought to life by CJ CheilJedang’s developed 'premix technology' and the fun of eating with different facial expressions of the bungeoppang designs such as ‘Love-struck Bungeo’ and ‘Smile Bungeo’ are distinctive features. Additionally, the convenience of enjoying them at home regardless of the season was also analyzed as a key factor.

In particular, during the first two months after launch, the products were sold only through the three Shinsegae distribution channels (Emart, SSG.com, Gmarket), but about 250,000 units were sold, showing strong consumer love from the start. Following this, Bibigo rice tteokbokki and two types of twigim (fried seaweed roll and fried squid) also surpassed 1 billion KRW in sales within three months of launch.

K-Street Food is also achieving success overseas. The first product, Bibigo shelf-stable tteokbokki, has been exported to a total of 27 countries including the United States, Australia, Vietnam, and Singapore since June last year, and is mainly sold through local ethnic markets and online malls. In November last year, it expanded its sales channels by entering ‘EzyMart,’ a major convenience store chain in Australia.

Earlier, the three types of Bibigo frozen gimbap (ham and vegetable, bulgogi, kimchi cheese), launched in Japan in March last year, sold more than 200,000 units within a month. They were stocked in about 2,000 stores of mainstream local distribution channels, including Japan’s largest supermarket chain ‘AEON.’ At the Costco Asian Fair in September, held to commemorate the launch of the new product ‘Bibigo Tuna Mayo Gimbap,’ the prepared quantity of 25,000 sets was completely sold out.

A CJ CheilJedang official said, "We could feel the high local interest as Nihon TV introduced the special features of Bibigo frozen gimbap and CJ CheilJedang’s rapid freezing technology through the frozen food real review segment of the program ‘ZIP.’"

Riding on this popularity, CJ CheilJedang plans to accelerate the development of K-Street Food this year. The company aims to achieve annual sales of about 35 billion KRW domestically and lead the globalization of K-Street Food centered on tteokbokki, bungeoppang, and frozen gimbap in major global countries.

Kim Suk-jin, head of the Bibigo brand group at CJ CheilJedang, said, “We are receiving great responses from consumers worldwide who have experienced Bibigo K-Street Food, and sales continue to grow,” adding, “We will continue to strive to spread Korean food culture to overseas markets with products of differentiated taste and quality.”

Meanwhile, Bibigo ‘K-Street Food’ is one of six strategic items selected by CJ CheilJedang to nurture the next generation of K-food and secure new growth engines for ‘global territory expansion,’ including tteokbokki, hot dogs, gimbap, fried seaweed rolls, bungeoppang, and hotteok.

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