The food and dining industries are accelerating efforts to win over consumers through brand collaborations. Companies are pairing familiar brands in new combinations to launch new products, or running limited-time sales and experiential events to offer diverse culinary experiences.
According to the industry on the 8th, Baesangmyun Brewery has teamed up with Orion to run an online and offline collaboration promotion combining Neurin Maeul makgeolli with the snack "Jijimi." The initiative reinterprets makgeolli and buchimgae (Korean savory pancake)—a classic food pairing—so consumers can enjoy them conveniently in everyday life. Jijimi is a product made by frying whole ingredients thinly to recreate the distinctive flavor and texture of buchimgae, and comes in two varieties: kimchi pancake flavor and chive pancake flavor.
On the online malls Homesool.com and 11st, a limited set is being sold that gives customers who purchase Neurin Maeul makgeolli a free Orion Jijimi. At Neurin Maeul breweries nationwide, visiting customers receive one free set of Jijimi. "Makgeolli and buchimgae are a familiar food pairing that people have long enjoyed together, so we hope this collaboration gives consumers an opportunity to enjoy Neurin Maeul makgeolli more conveniently and in a new way," a Baesangmyun Brewery official said.
A Twosome Place has collaborated with Samyang Foods' "Buldak" to launch two deli menu items, including "Buldak Corn Cheese Panini" and "Buldak Chicken Baguette Sandwich." The products were added following the popularity of the limited-edition menu item "Buldak Cheese Melt Panini," introduced this January. Since the launch of the Buldak Cheese Melt Panini, sales across the entire panini category rose about 40%.
The new Buldak Corn Cheese Panini turns the "Buldak + corn cheese" combination that gained popularity on social media (SNS) into an actual menu item. It adds chicken thigh meat flavored with original Buldak sauce and sweet, savory corn cheese to soft ciabatta, delivering a spicy yet salty umami taste. The Buldak Chicken Baguette Sandwich is a cold sandwich that combines chicken breast tossed in Buldak mayo sauce and crunchy carrot rapée on a soft baguette. Customers who purchase the new products also receive a Buldak stick sauce so they can adjust the spiciness to their taste.
Efforts to differentiate products through collaborations with famous chefs are also continuing. CJ CheilJedang (097950) teamed up with chef Yoo Yong-wook, who runs the barbecue specialty restaurant "Imok Smoke Dining," to introduce "Bibigo Signature Galbi Mandu." Chef Yoo participated directly from product planning to development, incorporating the smoking know-how of his signature menu item "beef rib" into the product. Additional collaboration products, such as "Smokick Chicken Drumstick Steak," are also planned to be introduced in sequence.
The company is also carrying out content marketing built around the narrative that it reunited with a former colleague from CJ CheilJedang as a collaboration partner. Late last month, it released special content telling the product development story on social media (SNS) channels including Bibigo's official Instagram, in which chef Yoo candidly shared the background of how he came to join the project, along with the philosophy he infused into the product and the process of realizing the recipe.
