Kim, who runs a dessert shop in Jung-gu, Seoul, recently added a new one-person shaved ice to his menu. Previously, only regular shaved ice for two to three people was sold, but as more customers turned away, saying, “It’s too much to eat alone,” he changed the composition of the menu.
“The portion is reasonable and the response of single-person customers is particularly good,” Kim said of the new menu. “It is effective in many ways as family members often buy it for tasting or repurchase it with large bingsu later.” “On weekdays alone, more than 20 bingsu are sold per day. Sales of bingsu have more than doubled since the launch of bingsu.” Recently, bingsu with cost-effectiveness is gaining popularity among the MZ generation. Major factors are capacity and reasonable price that people can enjoy alone. Not only coffee franchise stores but also convenience store and mart’s small packed bingsu products are attracting attention.
According to the industry on the 24th, demand for single-person shaved ice is increasing, especially among consumers in their 20s and 30s generation. Red bean ice gelato parfait, which was introduced by Mega MGC Coffee in April, is a representative example. The menu is a milk shaved ice-style parfait that combines gelato with red beans, rice cakes and cereals, and since its launch, it has been in short supply through social networking services (SNS).
Due to the high demand, people often fail to get products from stores. “I visited the store four times because I thought it would melt if delivered, but I couldn’t eat it because it was sold out every time I went there,” he said. “I was even more curious because there were many reviews on SNS that it was delicious.”
According to Mega MGC Coffee, four new menus, including the menu, exceeded 2.4 million cumulative sales as of the 22nd. “It means that 31 were sold per minute,” a Mega Coffee official said. “It is the fastest sales speed among single dessert menus.”
In fact, the popularity of the product was felt at the site. “The demand for shaved ice per person is so high these days that we sell them separately at a fixed time,” said Lee, who works at Mega Coffee in Jung-gu, Seoul. “If not restricted, it is difficult to order other orders.”
This one-person shaved ice craze is also appearing in other coffee franchises. Composse Coffee’s “Red Bean Jeolmi milk shake” is gaining top sales in the summer season, going viral as an alternative dessert for shaved ice. Ediya Coffee is actively responding to related demand by expanding the number of one-person shaved ice products from three last year to four this year. Experts say that the reason for this “mixed ice” (shaved ice eaten alone) craze is the right amount, affordable price, and visuals that call out proof shots. Analysts say that the factors targeting the MZ generation, which values SNS sensitivity and cost-effectiveness, are evenly prepared.
Existing bingsu is difficult to store, so both quantity and price are burdensome to enjoy alone. On the other hand, bingsu for one person, which was recently introduced by the franchise, is gaining popularity from the MZ generation, which values cost-effectiveness and cost-effectiveness as it is a good size to eat alone at a reasonable price of 4,000 won to 6,000 won.
“In the past, most of the shaved ice was for two to three people, so it was burdensome to eat alone, but these days, there are more shaved ice for one person, so it’s much easier to enjoy,” he said.
Demand for shaved ice per person is also on the rise in the retail industry such as convenience stores and marts. GS25 saw its cup shaved ice sales increase by 34 percent year-on-year over the past three weeks (June 1-22). CU, a convenience store developed by BGF Retail, saw its shaved ice sales increase by 19 percent during the same period. Lotte Mart also saw its ice cream sales increase by more than 10 percent during the same period.
“One-person shaved ice is a change in the way we consume beyond simple trends,” a distribution industry official said. “We plan to further expand our product line to suit our customers’ detailed tastes.”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
