Convenience store chains are rolling out holiday lunch boxes and ready-to-eat meals aimed at consumers spending Chuseok alone.
GS25, the convenience store operated by GS Retail, said on the 24th it has released the "Hyeja Chuseok holiday lunch box." It includes gochujang-galbi marinated pork, neobiani grilled beef, japchae, three-color namul, and assorted jeon with rice, and adds holiday flair with a dessert of mugwort glutinous rice cake coated in soybean powder. The product will be sold in limited quantities through Oct. 9.
GS25 has introduced season-limited lunch boxes every Lunar New Year and Chuseok, when many restaurants close. During the Lunar New Year holiday (Jan. 28–30), lunch box sales rose 32.1% from the previous week on demand from single-person households and foreigners.
CU of BGF Retail will also sequentially launch seven items in its "Hangawi ready-meal series" starting today. The flagship item is the "Hangawi 11-side dish lunch box," which includes tteokgalbi, jeon, namul, and rice cakes to evoke the feel of a holiday table.
With this year's Chuseok holiday running long and expected to boost convenience store demand for holiday ready meals, especially among single-person households, CU expanded its Chuseok offerings. In January this year, CU's Lunar New Year holiday lunch box category sales rose 19.4% from a year earlier, and sales of holiday limited-edition lunch boxes increased 28.9%.
7-Eleven will introduce the "Five-colored splendid abundant table lunch box" and "beef bulgogi triangle gimbap" on the 30th. The lunch box contains beef bulgogi, jeon, namul, and mini yakgwa. Prices were lowered by 400 won from last year's Chuseok items. The packaging features minhwa images such as tigers and magpies to emphasize a traditional atmosphere.
Emart24 will also roll out the "Chuseok holiday big.Zip lunch box" and "Chuseok full moon platter" starting on the 30th. Highlighting a lineup that lets customers enjoy holiday foods easily, the offerings target single-person households for whom preparing a full spread is cumbersome.