Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
Snack foods in South Korea - statistics & facts
The traditional Korean candy, Dalgona, is now well-known across the globe thanks to Netflix’s mega hit series Squid Game. But what does the domestic snack market look like? Traditional snacks are called Hangwa, an abbreviation of the Korean words for Korea and snacks, play an important part in the market and repeatedly appear among food trends. South Koreans’ love for food and susceptibility to trends, sometimes result in short-term supply issues.
The composition of the competitive snack landscape
The South Korean confectionery and snack market, like so many other industries in the country, is characterized by large companies and conglomerates. But even between those, mergers and acquisitions have significantly defined the competitive snack market. One of the major confectionery companies, Crowns Confectionery, best known for their cookies and soft chewy candy, took over the well-established Haitai in 2004. Haitai, which stood in the spotlight for the viral Honey Butter Chips upon release in 2014, was acquired by Crowns. Years later, in 2020 the Korean Fair Trade Commission approved the further acquisition of Haitai’s ice cream business by yet another major dairy food corporation, Binggrae. The effect of changing ownership on consumers is minor, as South Korean consumers value brands and manufacturers highly in snack shopping.The culture of convenience store shopping
As convenience is key to South Korean consumers, most snack type products are sold on-the-go in convenience stores. These stores are located not only close to public transportation and major buildings, such as schools, companies, and residential buildings, but are well-spread across the whole country, providing easy access. But no matter the purchase channel, South Koreans buy snacks rather often. Aside from being trendy, some snacks rise in popularity during special occasions or seasonally. November 11th is commemorated as Pepero day in the country, given the resemblance between the number and the stick-shaped snack. On that day, Pepero snacks are gifted to family, friends, or colleagues.Satisfying snack trends in South Korea
While the word “snack” implies something that could be considered unhealthy, Korean consumers are usually health-conscious and enjoy functional foods. Nutritional snack foods, especially protein foods, have become rather popular, as the protein product market in South Korea keeps growing. Still, potato-based snack items, such as chips, remained the most popular. Food trends are moving fast in South Korea, as seen with the viral honey butter chips, and the return of Yakgwa. Once a product reaches a certain point of popularity, companies need to act fast to meet the large consumer demand. With the ongoing popularity of South Korean cultural contents, it is to be expected that food trends will not stay domestically, but will spread its influence to other markets, too.
