CU Chocolate Sales Increase 4.6 Times Due to Maltesers Effect
GS25's Al Chocolate Sales Rise 42.1%
Popularity Continues Among 1020 Students
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] 'Maltese,' which first gained word-of-mouth popularity on social networking services (SNS), is gaining widespread popularity through domestic convenience stores. This is because it continues to be popular among 10-20-year-old students, one of the main target groups of convenience stores. The scarcity, due to limited supply making it hard to obtain, is also interpreted as a factor raising its value.
According to BGF Retail on the 25th, CU's chocolate sales from the launch date of Maltese products (September 27) to the end of December last year increased about 4.6 times compared to the same period the previous year. This was thanks to the sustained hot popularity of Maltese, which sold 90% of the total supply on the first launch day.
Maltese's popularity was also strong at GS25. Since its first sale on October 14 last year, 1.16 million units were sold over three months until the end of last year. During this period, total chocolate sales increased by 36.2%, and individual chocolates rose by 42.1%. In particular, despite being first sold in October, Maltese ranked 18th among the best chocolate products for the entire year of 2019.
Maltese is a chocolate snack that wraps a crispy round biscuit, which seems like it would burst when bitten, in smooth milk chocolate. It gained fame after being known as a topping in domestic ice cream specialty store menus. It became a must-buy item for overseas travelers as it was introduced as content for 'mukbang (eating broadcasts)' and 'ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response)' videos on YouTube and other platforms.
Famous mukbang YouTuber 'Tzuyang' posted a video four months ago that has accumulated 2.6 million views as of this day. Tzuyang uploaded videos showing eating Maltese by dipping a whole basket into milk or putting it into waffle cream. In addition, YouTuber and food creator 'Hong Sound,' and celebrity couple Hong Yun-hwa and Kim Min-gi also posted related videos.
With Valentine's Day approaching next month, the value of Maltese is expected to continue rising. CU currently operates a total of six types, including Maltese Mid-Pack, Maltese Milk Single, Maltese Square Pack, and Maltese Piece. They plan to expand the related product lineup in time for the upcoming Valentine's Day.
In online communities where franchise store owners of each convenience store gather, inquiries about Maltese orders continue. In communities where officials from each convenience store franchise gather, one store owner posted, "Maltese orders are continuously coming in now. Hurry up and manage the orders." Other responses included, "From now on, we should bulk order and push Maltese for Valentine's Day," and "We hope we can order by box like other companies." In a community in the Jeju region, responses such as "We want to eat it too, but it's not easy to get" continued.
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