LOTTE Wellfood's long-running chocolate snack "Kancho" has made a comeback on the back of an unexpected craze. Among the MZ generation (millennials + Gen Z, those born 1980–2004), a buying spree for Kancho is continuing. A term has even emerged, the so-called "Kancho-kkang," meaning buying multiple boxes and opening them up. Convenience stores and big-box retailers are seeing daily sellouts, and online communities are flooded with posts saying they "can't buy it because it's sold out."
According to the industry on the 24th, the spark for this popularity was LOTTE Wellfood's "Find my name" event marking the 40th anniversary of Kancho's launch. The key feature is that a total of 504 names — 500 baby names most frequently registered recently in Korea and four character names (Kani, Choni, Chobi, Luvy) — are randomly imprinted on the snacks. Consumers are engrossed in the fun of finding the names of themselves, family, friends, lovers, and even their "favorite idol," and when they discover a name, they post a proof photo on social media with designated hashtags, a participatory approach that has spread like a game.
Kancho has transformed from a simple snack to a "finding game" and a "collectible item." If someone finds a Kancho stamped with their own name on the first purchase, it feels like fated luck, and they keep repurchasing until they get the name of a child or a favorite celebrity. On some resale platforms, Kanchos bearing idol members' names are even being sold. Singer IU (legal name Lee Ji-eun) also fueled the craze by opening a Kancho wrapper on a recent live broadcast on a fan platform and looking for her own name.
Thanks to this, Kancho sales have surged. According to LOTTE Wellfood, all Kancho stock allocated for delivery has sold out, leaving no inventory. In response, production has been tripled. According to the convenience store industry, GS25's average daily sales of Kancho this month (September) jumped 289.6% from the previous month. During the same period, 7-Eleven rose 150% year over year, and Emart24 increased 102% from the previous month. CU likewise saw Kancho sales from the 11th to the 18th climb 210.2% from the same period a month earlier.
This "Find my name" marketing push is drawing attention in the industry as a success that tapped into the MZ generation's distinctive play-based consumption culture. Early social media proof shots spread as a challenge and proliferated like a kind of "meme," and this led to a collective consumption phenomenon reminiscent of the past "Honey Butter Chips" and "Pokemon Bread" crazes.
However, to preserve the collectible value of the event Kanchos, LOTTE Wellfood plans to end the promotion in mid-November as scheduled. That means there is not much time left to find a Kancho with a name on it. A LOTTE Wellfood official said, "We wanted to offer a unique experience of 'a snack with my name' through Kancho, now in its 40th year," adding, "We will continue to provide brand experiences that span generations."