Korea's super supermarkets (SSM), or corporate-run supermarket chains, are accelerating their push to win over one- and two-person households with low-priced, small-portion ready-to-eat foods, or deli items, priced under 5,000 won. Moving away from a food strategy once centered on large quantities and raw ingredients tailored to family shopping demand, the chains are now focusing on small-portion deli products that let individuals put together a meal without a burden. As SSM chains have shown particularly weak sales among distribution channels recently, the shift is seen as an effort to find new growth momentum by offering immediacy and convenience that online delivery struggles to replicate.
According to the distribution industry on Friday, GS The Fresh recently expanded the lineup of its 3,900-won flat-price ready-to-eat deli brand "Ganpyeon Hankki" to include gimbap, fried rice, salads and pasta. Ganpyeon Hankki is a small-portion deli product GS The Fresh launched in February this year, initially centered on fried items. As sales grew quickly afterward, the company expanded the product range to include menus that can serve as meal replacements. Ganpyeon Hankki's sales last month rose fivefold from February, when it was first launched. Viewing this growth as tied to demand for convenience foods among one- and two-person households, GS The Fresh also introduced delivery and pickup services through the Our Neighborhood GS app last month. Ganpyeon Hankki products are currently sold at 80 GS The Fresh stores nationwide.
Lotte Super recently introduced "Yorihada World Buffet," a small-portion deli series previously sold at Lotte Mart, into its supermarkets. The number of stores offering the products has also expanded to about 120. Yorihada World Buffet is a small-portion, value-focused flat-price product line Lotte introduced in line with the single-household and solo-dining trend, priced at 3,990 won and 4,990 won. Its flagship products include "Healthy Veggie Roll," "Shrimp Fried Rice" and "Garlic Chicken Steak," with about 60 items currently on sale. Sales are also growing by about 10% from a year earlier.
Emart Everyday is likewise pursuing measures to strengthen competitiveness across all areas, including the development of small-portion, low-priced deli products, raw material sourcing and quality control know-how. This comes after confirming a growth trend, with Emart Everyday's deli sales rising 50.9% year-on-year in the first half of this year. In particular, items priced under 5,000 won—such as the "Sweet Pumpkin Ricotta Sandwich," "BLT Sandwich" and "Tuna Mayo Triangle Gimbap"—accounted for a high share of sales.
SSM chains are expanding their low-priced, small-portion ready-to-eat deli lineups because they see limits to growth relying solely on grocery products centered on family customers. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, offline retailers including department stores and convenience stores saw May sales rise 9.3% from a year earlier, while major SSM sales fell 8%. Sales have declined year-on-year for six consecutive months since December last year, heightening a sense of crisis within the industry.
The industry expects the low-priced, small-portion deli market to continue growing, given the rising number of one- and two-person households and increasing demand for "convenient single meals" amid prolonged high inflation. Accordingly, the industry plans to expand its supply of deli products based on each store's trade area and customer purchase data.
"In the past, large-portion family deli products priced at 10,000 won or more were mainly popular, so we launched products focused on those," a distribution industry official said. "Recently, demand for convenient yet cost-effective single meals has continued steadily not only among office workers and one- and two-person households but also among homemakers preparing home meals."
