[Distribution Hot People] The Secret Behind 'Olban Yetnal Tongdak' Selling One Piece Every Minute

Interview with Developer Kim Myeongok, Shinsegae Food Researcher
From Salting to Aging and Crispiness, Capturing It All, 2 Chickens for 10,000 Won Range

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The whole chicken in the yellow envelope held by fathers on payday once a month evokes nostalgia for the middle-aged and offers a unique experience for people in their 20s and 30s. This is Shinsegae Food’s ‘Olban Old-fashioned Whole Chicken’.

According to Shinsegae Food on the 10th, ‘Olban Old-fashioned Whole Chicken’ sold 300,000 units in seven months, riding the newtro trend. That means one piece was sold every minute. Kim Myung-ok, a researcher at Shinsegae Food’s Comprehensive Food Research Institute R&D Center (pictured), said, “We anticipated a major change in the cooking appliance market with the air fryer and started developing frozen convenience foods for a year.” The development process was not easy. The biggest challenge was finding a chicken suitable for the air fryer. Researcher Kim said, “Chickens used by chicken franchises are large, making them difficult to fit in the air fryer and requiring long cooking times, resulting in poor texture. The chicken used for samgyetang, which can be cooked in about 20 minutes, was the best match for the air fryer.”

They also pondered how to apply a flavor that consumers would generally like to the chicken. Researcher Kim said, “Through the first smoking process, we trapped the chicken’s juices and preserved a chewy texture,” adding, “We found a method to marinate the first-smoked chicken in a brine mixed with herbs, honey, and garlic in optimal ratios and age it at low temperature for 12 hours.” To find the perfect recipe, Researcher Kim repeatedly took business trips from Seoul to the factory located in Geumsan, Chungnam, for one or two days. It was a continuous cycle of marinating the chicken the day before and tasting it first thing in the morning after 12 hours.

Researcher Kim said, “When cooking frozen products with an air fryer, they often become less crispy than deep-frying in oil, so the challenge was to coat the batter as thinly and evenly as possible,” adding, “We chose a method where the chicken is manually pressed flat by hand, then fried once in oil to enhance flavor, and finally baked in the oven to cook thoroughly inside.”

Although the chicken size is small, pricing two chickens at around 10,000 won increased price competitiveness, and marketing emphasizing nostalgic taste through live broadcasts and home shopping was also effective. During the ‘Olban Old-fashioned Whole Chicken’ live broadcast held in March, 81,000 viewers tuned in simultaneously, ranking first in the same time slot, and 1,700 units were sold, exceeding the target by three times. Since then, ‘Olban Old-fashioned Whole Chicken’ has been selling 5,000 units daily on average. In a home shopping launch broadcast for two new products, 100 million won worth was sold within an hour.

Researcher Kim said, “We developed new products such as ‘Old-fashioned Garlic Soy Sauce Chicken’ and ‘Old-fashioned Chili Chicken’ to meet consumers’ demands for various flavors,” adding, “We will introduce products optimized for the tastes and cooking methods consumers want.”