Orion said on the 10th it will expand overseas sales of "B'chovey," which is gaining popularity among foreign tourists as a Korea travel souvenir. It will broaden distribution starting with Costco in Japan next month and extending to Costco in the United States in early next year.
B'chovey will enter 37 Costco stores in Japan simultaneously in October. It is also scheduled to begin sales at Costco in the United States in early next year. After foreign tourists visiting Korea bought B'chovey and introduced the product on social media, its recognition grew overseas as well.
According to Orion, B'chovey is spreading by word of mouth among foreign tourists as a "snack you must buy in Korea" or as a gift item. The company said there are more cases of it being consumed as a food souvenir purchased at travel destinations, similar to Japan's "Tokyo Banana."
The product packaging is also being used to reinforce this image. Following the "Korea edition," which features traditional Korean imagery, the company introduced the "National Museum of Korea edition," which incorporates cultural heritage from the National Museum of Korea into the design.
Sales in areas crowded with tourists are also growing quickly. From January to August this year, the top 10 B'chovey sellers included major tourism and transportation hubs such as Seoul Station, Busan's Jagalchi Market, the area near Seokchon Lake in Jamsil, Gimpo and Incheon airports, and Jeju. During the same period, sales at these outlets more than doubled on average from a year earlier. Overall B'chovey sales also rose 53% on a cumulative basis from January to August.
Production capacity has been expanded in line with rising demand. Orion added a B'chovey production line at its Iksan plant in April, roughly doubling capacity. While prioritizing supply for domestic sales had constrained exports, the expansion has made it possible to secure additional export volume.
Starting with Costco in Japan and the United States, Orion plans to sequentially expand the number of countries and distribution channels where it sells the product. The strategy is to apply to B'chovey the overseas rollout used for Kkobuk Chip and Chammung-eo-ppang, which broadened their sales routes through large overseas distribution networks after first validating the products in the domestic market.
An Orion official said, "Our strategy is to extend to B'chovey the successful approach of Kkobuk Chip and Chammung-eo-ppang, which are growing into global brands by targeting major overseas distribution channels after validating product strength at home," adding, "Based on Orion's differentiated product strength, we plan to develop B'chovey into a global K-snack."