As dining-out prices rise, hamburgers are drawing attention as a "value-for-money menu." The performance of major hamburger franchises such as Mom's Touch, Lotteria, Burger King, and McDonald's is improving.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 30th, Lotte GRS, which operates Lotteria, posted sales of 995.4 billion won and operating profit of 39.1 billion won last year, up 7.7% and 88%, respectively. Lotteria has solid sales of menu items tailored to the domestic market, such as bulgogi burgers and shrimp burgers, and operates many stores. Recently, it unveiled "local burgers" using regional specialties. Lotte GRS recorded cumulative sales of 822.1 billion won and operating profit of 53.6 billion won through the third quarter this year, up 10.5% and 49% from a year earlier, respectively. A Lotte GRS official said, "We expect strong results this year thanks to higher sales per store through diversification of Lotteria's products, marketing, and store-opening strategies, along with brisk sales of new products."
Mom's Touch posted sales of 417.9 billion won and operating profit of 73.4 billion won last year, up 14.7% and 21.8% from a year earlier, respectively. A Mom's Touch official said, "This year's collaboration products with Chef Edward Lee have been successful, and the number of pizza shop-in-shop (a store within a store) locations has increased, so strong results are expected."
McDonald's Korea also surpassed 1 trillion won in sales last year, recording 1.2502 trillion won, up 11.8% from a year earlier. Operating profit came in at 11.7 billion won, returning to the black for the first time in eight years. A McDonald's official said, "It is still difficult to present a numerical outlook for this year's performance, but recently, value-for-money menus such as Happy Snack, McMorning, and McLunch have sold particularly well this year, raising expectations for strong results," adding, "Campaigns such as the taste of Korea using domestic regional specialties have also been successful."
BKR, the operator of Burger King, posted sales of 792.7 billion won and operating profit of 38.4 billion won last year, up 6.3% and 60.7% from the previous year, respectively.
As the hamburger industry's performance improves, chicken franchises are also entering the hamburger business. bhc sold three kinds of chicken burgers at the Gaepo Xi Square store in Seoul that opened this month. KYOCHON F&B launched the deli brand "Sosit" on the first floor of its Pangyo headquarters this month and is selling chicken burgers and sandwiches.
In addition to existing large franchises, value-for-money brands like Frank Burger, premium brands such as Shake Shack introduced by SPC Group, and Five Guys of Hanwha Group have also entered the domestic market and are expanding their businesses. In particular, while premium burgers offer less value for money than general franchise burgers, the response is that they have established themselves as a meal rather than fast food. According to market research firm Euromonitor, the domestic hamburger market is projected to grow from about 2.3 trillion won in 2015 to 5 trillion won in 2025.
Some say that maintaining relatively low price points amid rising dining-out costs has influenced performance. According to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA)'s dining-out price information service, as of last month, the average price of samgyetang in Seoul was in the 18,000-won range. Naengmyeon was 12,000 won, bibimbap 11,000 won, and kalguksu in the 9,800-won range. Hamburger sets at large franchise stores are mostly under 10,000 won. Using various coupon promotions lowers the price further. The recent spread of the solo dining trend is also seen as having led to a boom for the hamburger industry.