bhc Chicken, Celebrating 5 Years, Establishes 'Matcho King' as the Soy Sauce Chicken Leader

by Lee Seonae

Published 06 Sep.2020 10:52(KST)

Released in August 2015, Became a Steady Seller with 17.5 Million Units Sold Over 5 Years

bhc Chicken, Celebrating 5 Years, Establishes 'Matcho King' as the Soy Sauce Chicken Leader

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] bhc Chicken’s ‘Matcho King’ has emerged as a steady seller, surpassing 17 million units in cumulative sales since its first launch in 2015.

bhc Chicken announced on the 6th that an analysis of Matcho King’s cumulative sales showed a total of 17.5 million units sold over five years since its launch, which translates to approximately 297.5 billion KRW in consumer price. If the consumed chicken boxes were stacked, their height would exceed 780 times that of Hallasan Mountain.

Matcho King was launched in August 2015, presenting a new paradigm for soy sauce chicken. It gained high popularity with its differentiated taste and greatly contributed to bhc’s growth. In particular, it played a major role alongside Bburinkle in surpassing 300 billion KRW in sales last year, establishing itself as a key product.

Matcho King is coated with an oriental blend sauce made from aged soy sauce and honey, offering a sweet yet savory flavor that pairs well with beer. It is especially noted for its toppings of red chili peppers, Cheongyang chili peppers, black sesame seeds?a representative food of longevity?green onions known for fatigue recovery, and minced garlic, a top tonic, creating a spicy taste that differentiates it from traditional soy sauce chicken.

Meanwhile, Matcho King has a unique history of launching its TV commercial three months after the product release, breaking the convention of airing TV CFs simultaneously with product launches. At that time, bhc Chicken’s strategy was to first generate consumer buzz through online promotion after the product launch, followed by full-scale offline marketing.

As a result, Matcho King began to see exponential sales growth as it received positive reviews on social media as a chicken perfect for pairing with rice. Subsequently, bhc Chicken aggressively expanded various marketing efforts, including TV commercials, nurturing it as a big hit product following Bburinkle.

Currently, Matcho King continues to enjoy steady popularity, selling about 300,000 units monthly, firmly establishing itself as the leading soy sauce chicken enjoyed by people of all ages. Riding on Matcho King’s success, the lineup has been strengthened with partial meat menu items such as ‘Matcho King Wings,’ ‘Matcho King Combo,’ and ‘Matcho King Sticks,’ maintaining high popularity.

Kim Dong-han, head of bhc Chicken’s PR team, stated, “Matcho King has played a decisive role in spreading the perception that bhc Chicken is a hit product factory by becoming a successive hit product following Bburinkle. We will continue to make greater efforts in developing various products so that Matcho King can remain a beloved steady product.”