Domestic Potato Consumption 40%..Orion's 'Pocachip' Global Sales Surpass 4 Trillion Won Over 37 Years

[Financial News] Orion's fresh potato snacks, including 'Pocachip', have surpassed a cumulative global sales of 4 trillion won. In particular, Orion uses 40% of the domestic potato harvest, significantly contributing to farmers' income.
Orion announced on the 21st that since launching Pocachip in Korea in 1988, more than 5.1 billion units have been sold by the first half of this year. This equates to selling 270 units per minute.
Half of the cumulative sales were in Korea, with the rest in Vietnam and China.
For Pocachip, it achieved the number one market share in fresh potato snacks in 1994, just six years after its launch, and has maintained it to this day. Following Korea, fresh potato snacks were introduced in Vietnam and China in 2006. 'Ostar (Pocachip)' launched in Vietnam has been the number one brand in the Vietnamese snack market since 2017.
China's 'Haoyouqu (Swing Chip)' achieved record sales of over 160 billion won last year. Sales in the first half of this year also grew by 10% compared to the previous year.
The amount of potatoes Orion uses for fresh potato snacks annually exceeds 200,000 tons. This year, they expect to use 230,000 tons. Considering last year's total domestic potato production was 544,000 tons, Orion's potato usage exceeds 40% of the domestic harvest.
Orion contracts with potato farms in Korea and Vietnam to procure potatoes locally. In China, they operate a direct farm in Inner Mongolia. During periods when potato cultivation is not possible, Korea imports potatoes from the USA and Australia, while Vietnam imports from China and other countries.
The area of potato farms contracted by Orion in Korea, Vietnam, and China amounts to 335 square kilometers, equivalent to 12 times the size of Yeouido or 4,900 soccer fields.
Since establishing the 'Potato Research Center' in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, in 1988, Orion has developed new varieties such as Dubek (2000), Jinseo (2023), and Jeonggam (2024) to create high-quality raw materials suitable for potato chips. Through this, they export seed potatoes of the Dubek and Jinseo varieties to Vietnam, and last year they completed the development of a new potato variety 'OA2132 (Orion Agro 2132)' in China and are in the process of applying for local variety protection.
The technology to manufacture fresh potato snacks at the optimal thickness and localization strategy were also effective. The thickness of Pocachip is around 1.3mm on average, finely adjusted in 0.01mm increments according to the solid content in the potatoes, including starch, to achieve the best taste.
The continuous release of products considering the tastes of local consumers, such as seaweed flavor, kimchi flavor, and gochujang flavor, also contributed to its popularity. As Western eating habits become more common, the number of consumers in Korea eating fresh potato snacks as a meal is increasing, and the demand for fresh potato snacks is expected to continue to grow, the company anticipated.
An Orion representative said, "Based on nearly 40 years of accumulated research and development know-how, we will continue to develop differentiated products with unique tastes and textures for each country, enhancing our status as a representative snack in Korea."

ssuccu@fnnews.com Kim Seoyeon Reporter