Lotte Food Launches Two 'SheFood Korean-Style Frozen Pasta' Varieties Created with University Students' Ideas

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Food is launching Korean-style pasta convenience meals inspired by ideas from university students.

On the 29th, Lotte Food announced the release of a new product, ‘Chefood (Shefood) Frozen Pasta,’ planned based on ideas from university student marketers. The newly launched menu includes two types that reinterpret regional specialty dishes and ingredients: ▲ Chuncheon-style Dakgalbi Rose Pasta ▲ Uiseong Garlic Sausage Oil Pasta.

This new product originated from ideas by MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) university students. The 19th Hidden Supporters team ‘Hidden House’ of Lotte Food’s university student marketers proposed the concept of ‘Young Tradition’ in their new menu suggestion project. They captured the trend of the positive perception of tradition spreading among the MZ generation and the reinterpretation and enjoyment of it. Based on this, they planned and commercialized Korean-style pasta using regional specialty foods.

To faithfully embody the concept of young tradition, Lotte Food collaborated with modern minhwa artist ‘Lucy Thorn.’ Artist Lucy Thorn presents works that reinterpret traditional minhwa with a modern sensibility and actively promotes the popularization of minhwa. Through this collaboration, illustrations containing stories matching each menu were placed on the front of the packaging. On the back of the product, explanations about the minhwa meanings were included to enrich the appreciation of the artwork.

Shefood Chuncheon-style Dakgalbi Rose Pasta is a menu combining Korean-style rose sauce made from a harmony of gochujang and fresh cream with Chuncheon-style dakgalbi made from chicken thigh meat and sweet potatoes. Shefood Uiseong Garlic Sausage Oil Pasta combines olive oil sauce with Uiseong garlic, which adds a Korean flavor.

Meanwhile, the Hidden House team also proposed ideas unique to the MZ generation for marketing the new products. To emphasize the rose sauce, they playfully used the Chinese characters ‘Roje (擄帝),’ meaning ‘to capture the king.’ Reflecting this, Lotte Food prepared an Instagram toon and a comment contest event depicting the birth story of a new noodle flavor that captures the king’s heart. Both contents can be found on Lotte Food’s official Instagram.

A Lotte Food official said, “We are utilizing so-called ‘traditional hip’ products and content that reinterpret tradition broadly, including food,” and added, “We plan to continuously develop new products using regional specialty menus in the future.”