Retailers are putting Japanese food front and center. Convenience stores are rolling out new Japanese-style lunch boxes, and dining franchises are expanding their Japanese offerings. This is because demand for travel to Japan has recovered quickly and content about local food has increased on social media (SNS).
On the 29th, according to the retail industry and others, GS25 released "crème brûlée ice cream," a twist on a Japanese convenience store dessert, in May this year in Korea. Last year, it introduced the Japanese-style stir-fried ramen "Kujirai-style ramen" as a ready-to-eat meal, adding another item reminiscent of what you might eat in Japan.
Sales trends are also strong. According to GS Retail, popular Japanese food items such as Tokimeki drinking pudding, Hokkaido pudding, and Real Price takoyaki rank in the top 10 in sales among about 100 products.
In July, CU brought the famous Japanese convenience-store dessert "Hokkaido souffle pudding" exclusively to the domestic convenience store market. It released a limited total of 160,000 units, which sold out in about a month. Having confirmed demand, CU quickly resumed sales by securing supply locally in Japan.
7‑Eleven introduced the "Dole acai bowl," the No. 1 frozen dessert at 7‑Eleven in Japan, exclusively in Korea. Emart24 last year launched futomaki, a Japanese-style kimbap, as a differentiated kimbap product.
Japanese-style menus are also gaining popularity in the dining-out sector. The largest conveyor-belt sushi chain in Japan, "Sushiro," entered the Korean market by opening a Myeongdong location, and Japanese Tokyo-style teppan dish "monjayaki" specialty restaurants have opened in Sinchon and Seongsu in Seoul. "Saengmacha," operated with a Japanese-style pub concept, opened its 100th location six months after its first store in Korea.
This shift comes as travel to Japan has increased. According to the Japanese travel industry and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of Koreans visiting Japan last year was 8.82 million, an all-time high. From January to October this year, 7.66 million people visited, up 6.4% from 7.2 million a year earlier, and the record is expected to be broken again this year.
Lee Jong-woo, a professor of business administration at Ajou University, said, "Japan is geographically close, so people travel there often, and with active information sharing on YouTube and elsewhere, demand for Japanese foods is growing," adding, "Traditional Japanese fare has already entered the domestic market in volume, and recently Japanese menus and desserts fused with Korean styles have been steadily imported."