'Record-Breaking Heat' Forecast... Food and Beverage Industry's Hot Summer Delicacies Battle Begins

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Recently, the daytime high temperature in Seoul has risen to as much as 27 degrees Celsius, showing early summer weather typical of July. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a 74.7% chance that this year will be the hottest since weather observations began in 1880, signaling an unprecedented heatwave. As a result, the food and beverage industry is focusing on summer foods.

According to related industries on the 9th, dairy specialist company Purmil's 'Honey Mixed Grain Milk' has recently surged in popularity. Honey Mixed Grain Milk features a rich and nutty flavor, made by adding sweet domestic honey to healthy grains such as brown rice, soybeans, barley, black rice, sorghum, and sesame. It contains 70% fresh raw milk, preserving the soft and rich natural flavor of milk, and can be conveniently enjoyed without the hassle of mixing mixed grains into milk, making it suitable as a meal replacement.

Dongsuh Foods has released two limited edition 'Maxim Kanu Ice' products targeting the upcoming summer. The limited edition products are 'Maxim Kanu Ice Blend' and 'Maxim Kanu Ice Latte.' Kanu Ice Blend uses 100% Kenyan beans known for their refreshing fruity aroma and balanced acidity, medium roasted to highlight a clean and crisp coffee flavor when enjoyed iced. Kanu Ice Latte also uses medium roasted Kenyan beans with an increased content of fresh non-fat milk, offering a richer and smoother milk flavor. The product packaging is designed to capture the refreshing summer vibe.

Specialty coffee shop Cafe Droptop has launched its signature shaved ice 'Ice Top 6 varieties.' The Droptop Ice Top, which has consistently been popular and loved by customers every year, returns this year with 20% more toppings, making it an even more abundant snowflake shaved ice. The Ice Top 6 varieties include three new shaved ice flavors reflecting trends such as Dalgona, corn cheese, and brown sugar, along with three renewed steady-seller shaved ice flavors. The three new menu items are: ▲ 'Corn Cheese,' where corn and cereal meet mascarpone cheese, ▲ '925 Coffee & Cookie,' a sweet and bittersweet harmony of caramel, coffee cookies, and 925 coffee, and ▲ 'Brown Sugar Dalgona,' combining dalgona and brown sugar with milk tea.

Hollys Coffee has launched the industry's first collaboration with Maltesers, the 'Hollys X Maltesers® Choco Shaved Ice.' This product features shaved ice topped with various textured toppings. It includes snowflake milk ice, rich chocolate sauce, crunchy choco granola and marshmallows, sweet Gugu ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. Additionally, Maltesers chocolates are provided separately, allowing customers to crush and enjoy them as they like or top them whole.

Nongshim has launched 'Kal Bibim Noodles' targeting the summer seasonal noodle market. This new product differentiates itself from existing bibim noodles by adding kimchi bibim sauce to kalguksu-style noodles. The noodles, shaped like kalguksu, have a chewy and firm texture. It allows you to enjoy a rich and unique bibim noodle flavor filling your mouth. Nongshim has concentrated its accumulated technology in developing various types of noodles to create bibim noodles with kalguksu noodles that hold the bibim sauce well while maintaining a chewy texture.

Pulmuone has released two types of room-temperature cold noodles flavored with chewy noodles, naturally savory broth, and bibim sauce. The two new cold noodle products allow customers to easily enjoy the authentic taste of specialty cold noodles at home, thanks to Pulmuone's long-standing noodle-making expertise and its proprietary 'Three-layer Noodle Making Method.' Additionally, the noodle ingredient blends differ according to the characteristics of mul-naengmyeon (cold broth noodles) and bibim-naengmyeon (spicy mixed noodles) to optimize texture and flavor. The preparation is simple: without needing to rub the noodles by hand, boil them for 3 minutes, rinse in cold water, and mix with cold noodle broth or bibim sauce.