From popular eatery gimbap to viral SNS recipes: GS25 gimbap sales jump 36%

[Financial News] Differentiated gimbap featuring recipes that have gone viral on social media and collaborations with famous eateries are scoring hit after hit, driving double-digit growth in GS25’s gimbap sales.
According to industry sources on the 16th, sales in GS25’s gimbap category from the 1st to the 15th were up 36.2% from the same period last year. The increase is attributed to the company’s incorporation of a range of food trends into its gimbap products, from collaborations with famous eateries to recipes that have attracted attention on overseas social media.
This month, GS25 launched the Pollock Roe Whole Egg Gimbap and Flying Fish Roe and Aged Kimchi Gimbap in collaboration with Sikmulwon Gimbap, which made headlines after a famous entertainer featured it on YouTube. Sikmulwon Gimbap is known for generously filling its gimbap with ingredients such as eggs and avocados.
The flagship product, Pollock Roe Whole Egg Gimbap, reinterprets Sikmulwon Gimbap’s Pollock Roe Egg Gimbap, combining black rice with a whole rolled omelet and pollock roe. All 500 units set aside for preorders sold out in 10 minutes during a preorder event held on the 13th.
The Flying Fish Roe and Aged Kimchi Gimbap, launched on the 7th, also sold out all 500 units set aside for preorders within an hour of preorders opening. Cumulative sales topped 100,000 units within a week of its official launch.
The Buldak Cheese Omelet Gimbap, launched on the 16th of last month, features a spicy chicken omelet recipe that went viral on overseas social media as a Myeongdong street food. Cumulative sales reached 500,000 units within a month of launch. For three weeks after its launch, it ranked first in both cumulative sales revenue and units sold in GS25’s gimbap category.
Pan Seon-yeong, a manager on GS Retail’s Fresh Food (FF) team, said, “Recently, gimbap with unusual ingredient combinations has been making waves on social media, and demand is growing among customers seeking distinctive flavors.” The manager added, “We’ll develop a variety of gimbap that reflects food trends at home and abroad and offer customers something new to enjoy.”

[email protected] Kim Hyeon-ji Reporter