Convenience stores see sales of ready meals surge

Convenience stores have become a popular meal spot among Koreans amid the so-called lunchflation days. People spent nearly 2 trillion won ($1.51 billion) buying ready meals from convenience stores last year and are expected to spend 2.23 trillion...

Buckets of fried chicken and other ready meal products are displayed at a 7-Eleven convenience store. [7-ELEVEN]

Convenience stores have become a popular meal spot among Koreans amid the so-called lunchflation days. People spent nearly 2 trillion won ($1.51 billion) buying ready meals from convenience stores last year and are expected to spend 2.23 trillion won this year, trailing closely behind the 2.65-trillion-won ramyeon market.

Revenue for the ready meal market from convenience stores totaled 1.93 trillion won to record an all-time high last year, according to market researcher Euromonitor on Wednesday.

Ready meals refer to quick eats such as a lunchboxes, hotdogs or fried chicken.

The graph shows the growing ready meal market in Korea. [EUROMONITOR]

“I have to wait in line to buy food at a convenience store,” said a 35-year-old who works in Eunpyeong District, northern Seoul. He grabs lunch from a convenience store three times a week to save money.

The 35-year-old also said he orders one or two cups of coffee to go every day.

Lunchboxes are a hot commodity in convenience stores along the office-packed streets of Yeouido and Gangnam during lunch hours. In these districts of Seoul, such meals are sold out almost as soon as they hit the shelves.

“More people are making runs to convenience stores for a lunchbox,” said a spokesperson for CU. “Some people buy multiple lunchboxes to eat with their colleagues.”

According to Statistics Korea, the price of eating out rose 7.4 percent on year last month. Convenience store lunchboxes, priced at around 4,000 won, are more affordable than restaurant meals which cost some 10,000 won per dish.

A Kim Hye-ja dosirak lunchbox is in a basket at a GS25 convenience store in Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

The Kim Hye-ja dosirak (packaged meals) lunchboxes launched by GS25 in February are leading the convenience store lunchbox frenzy. Over 3.5 million units of these lunchboxes named after the actor were sold in the span of two months, and GS25’s overall lunchbox sales rose 67.5 percent on year.

Stores near office buildings logged the highest increase at 91.5 percent, tailed by tourist sites, at 86 percent, and cram school areas, at 79.1 percent.

GS25’s Kim hye-ja dosirak lunchboxes are sold for as little as 350 won after discounts. CU, 7-Eleven and Emart24 also launched their own low-end lunchboxes to compete for cost-efficiency.

Convenience store coffees are another popular snack. GS25’s coffee brand Cafe 25 sold more than 240 million units last year and its sales for the first quarter jumped 26.6 percent on year. CU lowered the price of its brewed coffee product GET Ice Americano by 5 percent to rake in more revenue.

“High consumer prices and a wider choice of menu in convenience stores boosted the [ready meal] market,” said Moon Kyung-sun, head researcher at Euromonitor.

Ready meal items like dosirak lunchboxes are signature products of Korean convenience stores, said a source from the convenience store industry.

“The competition [among convenience stores] will heat up as they hire more people and release more special edition products,” the source added.

BY CHOI SUN-EUL [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]