Domestic Food Industry Flooded with New Chocolate Products
Targeting Consumers Seeking Sweetness Amid COVID-19 Impact
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Dalgona coffee, egg souffle, pancake cereal. These sweet and soft unique foods have garnered hot interest from people around the world staying at home due to the ongoing social distancing measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Their commonality is that they not only make the monotonous time spent at home fun and productive but also provide comfort to people as "comfort foods" with their sweet taste and soft texture. US-based CNBC highlighted the recent Korean trend of "Dalgona coffee" and the changed global snack culture during the COVID-19 crisis in an article titled, "From Dalgona coffee to cakes and cookies, people turn to comforting foods during lockdown." A survey by global market research firm OnePoll also showed that many people seek comfort foods to relieve stress caused by changes in daily life due to COVID-19. The survey found that on average, individuals enjoy comfort snacks about six times a week, and approximately 41% of respondents said they seek comfort foods to feel happy.
In the domestic food industry, companies have sensed this psychological trend amid the crisis and are releasing sweet chocolate snacks targeting those seeking sweet comfort in daily life during COVID-19. According to industry sources on the 1st, chocolate sales typically peak in the cold winter and are relatively less popular in the hot summer. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting "corona blues," the chocolate sales trend this year has been somewhat different. Convenience store CU's seasonal chocolate sales data showed that chocolate sales in the summer season from June to August increased by 25.3% compared to the previous year. In response, the food industry is launching various eye-catching chocolate flavor products to sustain demand for chocolate through the winter, offering healing time to exhausted consumers.
Ice cream, a representative comfort food, ranked third among the most preferred comfort foods in the survey. Haagen-Dazs, a premium ice cream brand known for high-quality ingredients, recently launched new products including "Dark Chocolate Ganache & Almond" and "Belgian Chocolate & Hazelnut" (available in pint, mini cup, and stick bar, totaling five types), filled generously with high-quality chocolate. These new products allow consumers to sensually enjoy various tastes and textures, crafted with Haagen-Dazs' unique craftsmanship and premium chocolates and ingredients.
The new "Dark Chocolate Ganache & Almond" features a dark chocolate ice cream base with a high cocoa content, combined with premium ganache sauce and caramelized almonds, delivering a rich and weighty chocolate flavor. The soft and creamy ganache sauce is generously added to maximize flavor richness, while the sweet and savory almond chunks add a crispy texture, enhancing the chocolate's appeal to the fullest.
"Belgian Chocolate & Hazelnut" boasts a high-quality Belgian chocolate ice cream base with silky chocolate hazelnut sauce, offering a rich and sweet flavor unique to Haagen-Dazs. Roasted hazelnut chunks coated with caramel add a delightful texture and enhance the premium dessert's flavor.
Additionally, the Belgian Chocolate & Hazelnut stick bar features hazelnut chocolate coating embedded with roasted hazelnut pieces, providing a crispy and savory sensation amid the smoothness. The soft Belgian chocolate ice cream base combined with chocolate pieces allows consumers to fully enjoy a refined chocolate taste.
Twosome Place introduced its second autumn dessert, the "Chocolate Apricot Mousse." Characterized by the rich chocolate flavor combined with the refreshing apricot flavor, it is expected to continue the popularity of Twosome's consistently loved chocolate mousse cake. The new "Chocolate Apricot Mousse" layers dark ganache mousse with rich flavor and soft milk chocolate mousse, sandwiching apricot cream for a refreshing taste, and includes apricot pieces, cookie crumble, and a chocolate layer to offer various textures.
The harmonious blend of the chocolate's sweetness and the apricot cream's tanginess in the "Chocolate Apricot Mousse" is available as a whole cake and as individual slices for a leisurely treat, pairing well with warm coffee on cool late autumn days.
Orion launched "Kkobuk Chip Choco Churros Flavor" last month, combining crispy texture with rich chocolate and the sweet taste of churros. The product has gained high popularity, selling 2.6 million bags (worth 3 billion KRW) in about a month.
Kkobuk Chip Choco Churros Flavor features four-layered chips coated with chocolate to enhance the rich chocolate flavor, finished with churros' signature sweet sugar topping. To maximize sweetness and preserve churros' unique texture, the optimal sugar topping grain size was selected. Additionally, the chip layers were made thinner to create a lighter churros snack texture.
Krispy Kreme launched "Chocolate Assemble" last month through collaborations with famous overseas chocolate brands such as Milka, Toblerone, and Cadbury. The new donut lineup includes "Milka Strawberry Field," topped with Milka mini strawberry chocolates and filled with premium strawberry filling; "Toblerone Tiny," filled with chocolate cream and topped with Toblerone Tahiti chocolate, evoking the snowy image of the Matterhorn; and "Cadbury Twirl," featuring layers of sweet original glazed donuts topped with Cadbury Twirl chocolate.
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