“A convenient meal in one hand” ... 7-Eleven expands its small-portion convenience food lineup

[Financial News] As demand grows for smaller-portion foods that reduce the amount eaten at one meal amid high prices and a consumer trend prioritizing time efficiency, convenience-store meals are also being segmented into “one-handed meal” formats. 7-Eleven is expanding its range of one-handed convenience foods, including maki, grab items and single-egg products.
Industry sources said on the 8th that 7-Eleven’s boiled egg sales from January to October this year rose 27% from the same period a year earlier. Over the same period, burrito sales increased 17%, sandwiches 22%, roasted sweet potatoes 23% and protein drinks 82%.
With high prices, time-efficiency-focused consumption and demand for smaller meals converging, 7-Eleven sees the boundary between meals and snacks blurring and is expanding products that can be held and eaten with one hand. According to the company, its four varieties of “All New Maki,” launched last August at Japanese convenience stores in the popular seaweed sushi-roll format, have sold more than 400,000 units cumulatively. Women accounted for 55% of customers who bought them.
Recently, the company added products including Chipotle Chicken Tender Grab and All New Crispy Maki Bulgogi. Chipotle Chicken Tender Grab wraps chicken tenders, vegetables and chipotle sauce in a tortilla so it can be eaten with one hand. All New Crispy Maki Bulgogi combines soy-sauce-marinated bulgogi with wasabi mayonnaise sauce and cucumber.
It also introduced “A Single Protein Egg,” which contains just one boiled egg. The product targets not only consumers looking for smaller portions but also those who want to add an egg to ramen or tteokbokki.
Last April, 7-Eleven launched its “All New” convenience food series, which uses technology to slow the staling of refrigerated rice and retain moisture. It renovated its triangular rice rolls, gimbap, sushi and some lunchbox products in stages, and cumulative sales have since surpassed 25 million units.
“As modern consumers’ lifestyles change amid high prices and a focus on time efficiency and health management, small-portion ‘one-handed convenience foods’ that blur the distinction between meals and snacks are emerging as a new mainstay of convenience-store food,” said Im I-seon, 7-Eleven’s food team leader. “We will continue to develop distinctive products that combine great taste and portability with reasonable prices.”

[email protected] Kim Hyun-ji Reporter