"Culinary Delights for Seol: Bibigo Japchae Sold Twice as Much as During Chuseok"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] As the nation's biggest holiday, Seollal, approaches, CJ CheilJedang's 'Bibigo Party House Assorted Japchae' is selling like hotcakes.

CJ CheilJedang announced on the 21st that 'Bibigo Japchae' is showing sales growth ahead of Seollal. From the 1st of this month to the 20th, it recorded sales of about 500 million KRW, more than double the sales during the same period last Chuseok. Considering that there are still four days left until the holiday and many consumers purchase food just before the holiday, sales are expected to grow even further.

This sales growth is analyzed to be due to the convenience of cooking and the quality of taste of Bibigo Japchae. Japchae is a representative festive dish often enjoyed during holidays, but it is considered a difficult dish to cook because it requires a lot of effort from preparing ingredients to cooking and is not easy to flavor well. On the other hand, Bibigo Japchae can be completed in just five minutes, so it seems that the number of consumers who want to enjoy japchae conveniently has increased.

Since its debut in September last year, Bibigo Japchae has recorded sales of about 2 billion KRW over four months, establishing itself as a representative convenience food that can be enjoyed as noodle dishes, side dishes, or delicacies. Especially, consumers who purchased the product showed high satisfaction with comments such as 'Japchae that tastes like homemade' and 'The noodles are chewy and the toppings are diverse, which is great.'

'Bibigo Party House Assorted Japchae' contains sliced domestic pork and six kinds of toppings including shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and onions. The key ingredient, glass noodles, are cut to a suitable length and boiled to maintain a chewy texture. With soy sauce and sesame oil developed using the know-how of Korean cuisine specialist chefs, it delivers a taste quality beyond homemade japchae.

'Bibigo Mushroom Japchae' is a 'vegetarian japchae' that contains the same six toppings as the 'Party House Assorted Japchae.' This product was launched in response to the increasing number of consumers preferring vegetarian options and was planned to target overseas markets where the growth of vegetarians is faster compared to Korea.