SNS-Fueled "Ban-Gal-Shot" Craze: Yonsei Milk Cream Bread Sets Record with Fastest 100 Million Sales

CU Yonsei Milk Cream Bread
Achieves Record Sales in Just 4 Years and 3 Months Since January 2022 Launch
Fastest Convenience Store Product to Reach the Milestone
Consistently Sells Over 20 Million Units Annually

On April 30, BGF Retail announced that CU, the convenience store chain it operates, surpassed a cumulative sales volume of 100 million units for its private brand (PB) Yonsei Milk Cream Bread, just 4 years and 3 months after its launch.

A CU official is introducing Yonsei Milk Cream Bread. Provided by BGF Retail

Yonsei Milk Cream Bread was launched in January 2022 and sparked a craze on social networking services (SNS) for "ban-gal-shot" (photos showing the inside of a product by cutting it in half). The product has consistently maintained annual sales of over 20 million units and achieved the milestone of 100 million units sold in the shortest period among convenience store products. According to the company, this is equivalent to an area that could fill approximately 420 soccer fields, and if stacked vertically, it would be more than 560 times the height of Mount Everest.

A total of 39 varieties of Yonsei Milk Cream Bread have been launched so far, with a new product released roughly every two months. Due to the popularity of this product, CU's year-on-year dessert sales growth rates over the past three years were 25.1% in 2024, 62.3% in 2025, and 62.5% from January to March in 2026.

Cho Junhyung, Head of the Snack Foods Team at BGF Retail, stated, "While the life cycle of hit products has been getting shorter in recent years, it is extremely rare and meaningful for a product like Yonsei Milk Cream Bread to achieve 100 million units sold while maintaining customer popularity over such a long period." He added, "CU will continue to enhance customer satisfaction through differentiated product planning and quality innovation that reflect the latest trends."

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