Sales of hand warmers at convenience store chain CU rose fourfold over the past week from the previous week, as cooler weather lifted demand for winter items such as seasonal clothing and instant fish cakes.
CU said on the 5th that an analysis of sales from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 showed winter clothing up 69.3%, stockings up 65.2% and instant fish cakes up 57.3%. Roasted sweet potatoes rose 40.3%. Sales of cold medicine and face masks increased 22.1% and 20.6%, respectively.
Demand for hot ready-to-eat food also picked up. After CU expanded its "hot bread" lineup, including heated sandwiches, last month, sales in the category jumped 117.3%. The chain is also introducing two fried pies made fresh in stores — a corn pie and an apple pie — priced at 2,000 won each.
The corn pie is filled with corn cream and kernels, while the apple pie combines apple pieces with cinnamon. Both come in wrappers designed to be eaten without getting hands dirty. CU is running a buy-two-get-one-free promotion through the month, lowering the effective price to about 1,333 won per pie.
Corn pies are a familiar street food in overseas destinations such as Thailand. In South Korea they have been sold mostly as limited-time offerings, but CU plans to keep the item on shelves permanently. "We will broaden the lineup beyond the existing chicken, hot bars and roasted sweet potatoes to include a wider range of ready-to-eat foods from overseas," said Kim Dong-ha, a merchandiser on the home meal replacement (HMR) team at BGF Retail.
