BGF Retail's convenience store CU announced on the 9th that last year the most popular item among foreign tourists at Korean convenience stores was Dubai chocolate. The Dubai chocolate, which gained popularity as a so-called mukbang item among overseas influencers and YouTubers, has triggered a craze domestically, surpassing the previously favored banana-flavored milk to claim the top spot in sales.
An analysis of tax refund sales data by CU revealed that Dubai chocolate ranked first among the top 10 products sold to foreign tourists last year. In just one year, approximately 20 billion won worth of Dubai chocolate was sold. The nationality that purchased the most of this product was Indonesian, accounting for 49% of the total CU tax refund sales data for Dubai chocolate.
Among the top 10 products in sales to foreign tourists, five items are differentiated products sold exclusively at CU. The Yonsei cream bread series, ranked 5th and 7th (chocolate and milk), saw 55.2% of its total sales coming from Vietnamese tourists. Meanwhile, the sixth-placed neighbor house Hwang cheese krungs was confirmed to have 66% of its total sales from Thai tourists.
Notably, the chestnut tiramisu cup, a representative product from the Netflix original variety show that became a global sensation 'Black and White Chef: Culinary Class Season 1', ranked 10th within three months of its launch. This product received numerous selections from foreign tourists of various nationalities, with 24.9% of its total sales attributed to Taiwanese customers.
CU has focused on attracting foreign tourists by introducing a tax refund system for the first time since 2022. The tax refund system provides immediate VAT refunds that any foreign tourist can receive when purchasing taxable goods worth 15,000 won or more.
According to CU, the nationalities of foreign tourists using this system total 75 countries. The number of uses exceeded 15,000 last year, which is about 16 times higher than the previous year in 2023.
Shin Sang-yong, head of the service platform team at BGF Retail, noted, "Recently, K convenience stores have attracted global attention, and the number of foreign visitors continues to increase," adding, "We will continue to expand products and services tailored to the needs of foreign tourists."