With the premiere of Netflix's cooking reality show "Culinary Class Wars" season 2 imminent, convenience store chains are again growing hopeful. Products released in collaboration with chefs who appeared in season 1 last year helped boost sales, and the industry also confirmed a content-consumption pattern in which the show led to actual product purchases. Some in the industry say competition among convenience stores will intensify right after season 2 airs.
According to Netflix on the 14th, the first episode of "Culinary Class Wars: Cooking Class War Season 2" will be released on the 16th. Season 2 expands on the "silver spoon vs. dirt spoon" structure of its predecessor, featuring 20 top-tier "silver spoon" chefs and 80 "dirt spoon" challengers armed with skill, who will carry out various missions.
This season, anticipation is building as top Korean chefs and master-level culinary experts join, including Son Jong-won of Josun Hotel, Seonjae, Korea's first master of temple cuisine, Hou Deok-ju, a 57-year veteran of Chinese cuisine, and first-generation star chef Jeong Ho-yeong. The 80 "dirt spoon" participants are chefs recognized for their skills from across the country.
Convenience store chains that saw results from various products released in collaboration with chefs who grants on "Culinary Class Wars" last year are also expecting season 2 to be a hit. An industry official said, "From the consumer's perspective, convenience stores are the easiest offline channel for viewers to taste the food of the chefs who appeared on the show. In producing collaboration products, convenience stores communicate repeatedly about recipes and cooking methods to replicate the chef's intended flavor as closely as possible before launch."
GS25, the convenience store operated by GS Retail, is the chain that can directly place the program name "Culinary Class Wars" and the Netflix logo on products for promotion. In 2023, it signed an IP (intellectual property) usage agreement with Netflix, giving it the right to use Netflix original content on products.
Right after the broadcast of "Culinary Class Wars" wrapped in Oct. last year, GS25 used the related IP to launch collaboration products with chefs who grants on the show, including "Manjjitnam" Jo Gwang-hyo, "delivery box chef" Lim Tae-hoon, "Japanese cuisine endgame king" Jang Ho-jun, and "Imokase No. 1" Kim Mi-ryeong. Cumulative sales of related products have recently surpassed 4.5 million units. The most popular items include ▲ Jang Ho-jun pollack roe potato salad ▲ delivery box dumplings ▲ delivery box mala xiang guo ▲ Imokase lunchbox seaweed.
GS25 recently teamed up with chef Edward Lee to push a "convenience store food hyper-gap project," jointly developing food items. As part of that effort, since early Dec., it has been rolling out a Korean-American–style ready-meal series, starting with the "pork ribs & short rib hamburger steak lunchbox."
CU, the convenience store operated by BGF Retail, supported production of the "convenience store mission" in season 1 of "Culinary Class Wars," and a temporary store modeled after a CU location appeared on the show. CU launched several products as a series in collaboration with season 1 champion "Napoli Mafia" chef Gwon Seong-jun and "school meal master" chef Lee Mi-yeong.
In particular, the "chestnut tiramisu cup," modeled after a menu that chef Gwon Seong-jun presented in the show's convenience store dessert mission, sold about 2.5 million units, and the "chestnut tiramisu bread" sold 1.85 million units. Ready meals such as lunchboxes and kimbap released in collaboration with chef Lee Mi-yeong recorded cumulative sales of 7 million units.
Since Jan., 7-Eleven has collaborated with chefs Ahn Yu-seong, Choi Kang-rok, and Jeong Ji-seon to introduce more than 10 new products across various categories, including ready meals, snacks, and ramen. Cumulative sales of related products have surpassed 5 million units.
Emart24 also collaborated with chefs Lu Ching Lai and Choi Hyun-seok. "The Big XO crab stick fried rice triangle," a collaboration with chef Lu Ching Lai, began sales in Apr. and has now ranked in the top five in the triangle kimbap category, following long-standing sellers such as tuna mayo and Jeonju bibimbap. The "truffle mushroom burger," a collaboration with chef Choi Hyun-seok, also ranked in the top five in hamburger sales.
An official at a convenience store chain said, "With interest in season 2 growing on the back of the success of 'Culinary Class Wars' season 1, product competition among companies is likely to intensify. Swift collaboration with chefs who gained attention on the show will be the key."