“Is healthy food possible at convenience stores?”
There is a certain image that comes to mind when thinking of convenience store lunchboxes. They are affordable and convenient, but have high sodium content and are often greasy. Seven Eleven is breaking this stereotype by opening a new path with its "healthy lunchboxes." They have launched a "whole grain lunchbox" that embodies the trend of anti-aging.
I met with Yu Eun-mi, the product planning team member at Seven Eleven who led the development of the product, at the company's headquarters in Gangdong District, Seoul, on Nov. 11. Yu noted, “The start of this plan was the question, ‘Can we provide healthy food at convenience stores?’” After much consideration, the answer emerged to implement the newly rising anti-aging trend in convenience stores as well.
The recent anti-aging trend was led by Professor Jeong Hee-won of Asan Medical Center, who is practicing "aging slowly" with a low-sugar and low-sodium diet that reduces refined grains and simple sugars. Yu contacted the professor in August of last year and received the secrets to anti-aging after several meetings.
Yu said, “I wanted to overcome the limitations of convenience store lunchboxes, which are high in sodium and calories,” and added, “During these considerations, I saw Professor Jeong emphasizing healthy diets on various programs and encountered related publications, which led to our collaboration.” He went on to explain, “When I made the collaboration request call, he accepted it readily, and we quickly began product development after our initial meeting,” adding, “To meet the standards set by Professor Jeong, we conducted over 30 tests during the six-month development period.”
The products released by Seven Eleven in collaboration with Professor Jeong last month include ▲ chicken breast steak lunchbox ▲ larger chicken breast mixed grain triangular kimbap ▲ whole grain mustard chicken breast kimbap ▲ chicken breast mixed grain sandwich ▲ lentil bean inari sushi & egg salad, totaling five types. The existing convenience store lunchboxes often have strong and stimulating flavors, and many people experience drowsiness or bloating after meals. However, Yu explains that the anti-aging lunchboxes are different. ‘Lentil bean evangelist’ Professor Jeong’s product features a base of ‘mixed grain rice with lentils.’
The sodium content has been reduced by up to 50% compared to regular products. While the average sodium content of convenience store lunchboxes is around 1,400 mg, the chicken breast steak lunchbox contains about 590 mg, more than half less. Compared to existing convenience store lunchboxes, which approach the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended daily sodium intake (2,000 mg) in just one meal, this option is less burdensome on health. Yu noted, “As a result of continuous tastings within the development team, we received a lot of feedback that the body felt lighter,” and added, “The general opinion was that there was no sleepy feeling due to blood sugar spikes after tasting.”
Maintaining the texture while preparing the ‘lentil mixed grain rice,’ which has not been used in convenience store lunchboxes before, was the most challenging part of the development process. While cooking white rice is simple, preparing mixed grain rice requires soaking brown rice, lentils, and white rice separately to maintain the texture, making the process complicated. Yu mentioned, “The most critical aspect while making mixed grain rice was the texture of the beans and brown rice,” and explained, “If the lentils are too hard, they create a resistance, and if they are soaked too much, they crumble together with the rice. We conducted sampling tests 30 times in collaboration with the research lab to find the optimal texture.”
The price of the anti-aging trend product is set at 6,500 won for the chicken breast steak lunchbox, which is about 10-20% more expensive compared to the standard lunchboxes, but Yu emphasized that the quality justifies the price. He said, “Because we use whole chicken breast and mix lentils and grains, the cost ratio is high, resulting in a higher price compared to regular lunchboxes, but we ensured quality that matches that.”
Seven Eleven has designated ‘health’ as the keyword for differentiation from competitors like GS25 and CU and plans to continue developing products. They aim to expand their healthy lunchbox line so that more consumers can access it. They are not only emphasizing health in products but planning new items that can include elements like substitute sugars, low sodium, and high protein diets, which can also be applied to regular lunchboxes.
Yu stated, “Previously, there was a perception that ‘it is difficult to create healthy food at convenience stores.’ However, we found out that it is indeed possible when we challenge ourselves. I want to continue to expand healthy convenience store food in the future.”