Instant Meals Take Over
17 August, 2019
The market for so-called home meal replacements is heating up in Korea as more and more Koreans stay single or have no energy left to cook after their working day.
Last year, CJ Cheiljedang racked up W1.9 trillion in revenues from instant meals (US$1=W1,212). Sales in the first quarter of this year surged 43 percent on-year, leading to expectations that full-year revenues will reach W2.6 trillion.
A majority of these products do not require stoves, knives or cutting boards to cook. Consumers either just open the packet or microwave it.
Flavors are said to have improved. CJ has no fewer than 250 instant meals out on the market, from samgyetang or chicken soup with ginseng to gamjatang or potato and pork bone soup, which are difficult to whip up at home.
Food delivery services are also tapping into this burgeoning trend. Woowa Brothers, which operates one of the most popular food delivery apps, saw monthly orders surpass 3 million in May 2014, and by June this year they had reached 32 million.
One industry insider said, "Food delivery services will soon analyze customer ordering patterns and pinpoint what they want to eat."
The development is global. Investment bank UBS warned in a report a year ago that home cooking could "evaporate" in the future and the industry is seeing the prediction come true faster than expected.
Source:
TAG(s):