Roasted Sweet Potatoes Overtake Steamed Buns... CU Convenience Store Claims Winter Snack Throne

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Roasted sweet potatoes have surpassed steamed buns, the representative winter snack at convenience stores, to become a popular winter food.

CU announced on the 22nd that an analysis of sales of major winter products over the past three months showed that sales of roasted sweet potatoes exceeded those of steamed buns for the first time in mid-January.

Until November last year, when winter officially began, sales of roasted sweet potatoes were only 65% of steamed bun sales. However, with explosive recent sales, as of January, roasted sweet potato sales are 5.7% higher than steamed buns, and per store sales are an impressive 7.3 times higher.

The sales growth rate also shows a significant difference. The year-on-year sales growth rate of roasted sweet potatoes in January this year reached 222.9%, while steamed buns remained in the single digits at 5.1%.

Especially considering the difference in the number of stores selling them, the gap is large. Currently, CU operates roasted sweet potatoes in about 2,000 stores, while steamed buns are sold in about 10,300 stores. The number of stores selling roasted sweet potatoes is only one-sixth of that.

The reason for the increased popularity of roasted sweet potatoes at convenience stores is the advantage of being able to easily purchase them individually at an affordable price 24 hours a day. Moreover, street vendors selling roasted sweet potatoes have gradually disappeared as rising raw material prices have eroded their price competitiveness, leading convenience stores to replace them.

In this trend, the number of convenience stores roasting sweet potatoes has been increasing every year. Convenience stores began full-scale sales of roasted sweet potatoes in 2017. CU started with about 300 stores at the introduction stage, increased to about 1,500 stores in 2018, five times more, and expanded to about 2,000 stores in 2019.

Kim Mingyu, head of the fresh food team at BGF Retail, said, “As opportunities to enjoy roasted sweet potatoes in winter decrease, convenience stores are establishing themselves as an alternative purchase location. With the rapid increase in roasted sweet potato sales, the number of stores wishing to operate them is increasing daily, and it is expected that the number of stores selling them will increase to 4,000 by the end of this year.”