[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] CU is launching a camping ready-meal series on the 13th of this month, the first in the industry, targeting the rapidly growing camping population with easy-to-cook meals even outdoors.
CU's camping ready-meal series includes three items: Ultra-simple Snowflake Fried Rice, Assorted Stir-fry, and Corn Cheese Sausage. These products are characterized by being packed in aluminum containers that can be heated directly with a burner.
The 'Ultra-simple Snowflake Fried Rice (4,300 KRW)' was released as a dessert-style fried rice considering that people grill meat at campsites. It features finely shredded mozzarella cheese piled like snowflakes on kimchi fried rice. The rice portion is 1.5 times larger than regular lunch boxes, enough for two adults.
Popular camping side dishes such as instant tteokbokki and corn cheese are also available as ready-meals. The 'Ultra-simple Assorted Stir-fry (4,300 KRW)' is made to cook dumpling fries, gim-mari (seaweed rolls), and gochujang bulgogi in a spicy sauce with just enough liquid. The 'Ultra-simple Corn Cheese Sausage (4,300 KRW)' contains herb-flavored sausages and sweet corn generously covered with cheddar cheese, making it enjoyable as a snack for children or an appetizer for adults.
The reason CU is introducing the camping ready-meal series is that due to COVID-19, social distancing has become routine, and the camping population seeking independent spaces with friends or family instead of crowded vacation spots has significantly increased.
In fact, as the number of people enjoying camping has surged this year, sales of camping-related products at convenience stores have noticeably increased. CU's 'Convenient Camping Box,' sold last month, which includes popular camping foods like sausages, corn cheese, and budae-jjigae in an icebox at an affordable price, went viral on cafes and blogs and sold out within an hour and a half of launch.
Sales of sausages, a representative camping food, have increased by 25.7% over the past three months compared to the previous year. The kielbasa sausage, known as the 'King Horseshoe Sausage,' has ranked first in sales within its category since May, when the summer camping season began in earnest.
Kim Jun-hwi, MD of the Ready Meal Team at BGF Retail, said, “As camping has become a popular leisure activity in the COVID-19 era, more people are purchasing camping foods at convenience stores, so we launched dedicated ready-meals. Going forward, CU will continue to introduce customized products reflecting customers' lifestyles and establish itself as a lifestyle-oriented platform.”
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