From the Sold-Out 'Hanjungsun Chapssaltteok' to Candied Sweet Potatoes: The Convenience-Store Dessert Battle Moves to Freezers

[Financial News] The convenience-store dessert battleground is moving beyond refrigerated display cases into freezers. As ice desserts featuring distinctive textures and unusual visuals, such as chapssaltteok and candied sweet potatoes, gain popularity, related sales are also rising rapidly.
According to industry data on the 26th, emart24's frozen dessert sales rose 108% in 2024 and 52% last year, followed by a 72% increase from January through September 15 this year. Frozen desserts' share of total frozen-product sales also expanded from 1.2% in 2022 to 3.6% last year and 7.4% in August and September this year. In particular, the recently launched 'Ice Sweet Potato Mattang' ranked first in sales among all frozen foods, surpassing frozen pizza and frozen dumplings. Sales from the 14th through the 20th of this month were 35% higher than during its first week on the market.

The 'Hanjungsun Yogurt Chapssaltteok,' introduced by GS25 on the 3rd in partnership with the chapssaltteok specialty shop Hanjungsun, surpassed 500,000 units in cumulative sales by the 20th. On its proprietary mobile application, Our Neighborhood GS, a sold-out frenzy occurs every day, prompting an online rush to buy the product on a first-come, first-served basis. The product ranked first in GS25's ice cream category less than a month after its launch. Before its official release, 200 units each were made available at stores in Gangnam District and Incheon International Airport, and both batches sold out early. The company explained that demand surged as the chewy texture characteristic of chapssaltteok became a topic of discussion on social media, coinciding with the Hanjungsun brand's recognition. Amid this trend, sales of rice cakes and rice-cake-based products at GS25 surged 312.6% from January 1 through the 20th of this month.
CU is targeting demand with hyper-realistic ice cream that offers visual appeal. Sales of related products from January through September this year increased 107.7% from the same period a year earlier, far outpacing the 10.2% growth in total ice cream sales. The lineup has expanded from ice cream resembling real carrots, triangular rice balls and potatoes to products created through character collaborations. Cumulative sales of the hyper-realistic products launched last year reached 600,000 units.
7-Eleven's ice dessert sales also rose 86% year on year from January 1 through September 21 this year. The increase was even greater than the 25% growth in 2024 and 22% growth last year. OHAYO BRULEE MILK, a Japanese dessert introduced in July, sold 350,000 units within 40 days of its launch. The product's method of cracking and eating the sugar coating on top of the ice cream became a topic of discussion on social media, driving sales.
Industry officials believe that new textures, such as chewy, crispy and soft, along with the fun of eating the products, are driving the growth of ice desserts rather than the frozen storage method itself. Their longer shelf life compared with refrigerated desserts, which relatively reduces stores' disposal burden, is also cited as a reason for the expansion of these products. An emart24 official said, "As more customers look for desserts with new textures or distinctive characteristics, convenience-store desserts are expanding from refrigerated to frozen products. In line with this trend, we plan to introduce additional frozen rice-cake products within this year and continue launching differentiated frozen desserts in the future."
[email protected] Kim Hyun-ji Reporter