3 Million Won 'Two-Plus' Hanwoo Beef Set Selling Out Due to High Demand

Department Stores Sell Out Premium Hanwoo Gifts
High-End Meat Drives Sales Growth
Pure Gold and Luxury Items Popular at Convenience Stores

On the 28th, models are introducing premium Hanwoo gift sets at Hyundai Department Store Apgujeong Main Branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Ahead of the Lunar New Year, premium Hanwoo beef gift sets worth millions of won are selling out rapidly. This is attributed to the continued trend of contactless holidays due to COVID-19 and the increase in the permissible gift amount for agricultural, livestock, and marine products under the Anti-Graft Act from 100,000 won to 200,000 won.

According to Lotte Department Store on the 28th, sales of Lunar New Year gift sets from the 7th to the 26th increased by 16.4% compared to the previous year. While traditional holiday gift items such as meat, fresh produce, and alcoholic beverages showed strong performance, high-priced premium Hanwoo beef led the sales growth. The ‘L-No.9 Prestige Set (3 million won)’ and ‘L-No.9 Luxury Set (2 million won)’, composed only of the highest-grade cuts of No.9 luxury Hanwoo, the top grade among the two-horned grade, are over 80% sold out and nearing complete sell-out.

At Shinsegae Department Store, sales of Lunar New Year gift sets from the 14th to the 26th increased by 18.9% compared to the previous year. The Shinsegae 5-Star ‘Luxury Hanwoo The No. 9 (2.5 million won)’ and ‘Luxury Hanwoo Special (2 million won)’, both composed exclusively of the highest-grade two-horned Hanwoo, were completely sold out. The highest-priced wine product released this time, ‘Olivier Bernstein 2018 Grand Cru (24 million won)’, also sold out all prepared quantities. During the same period, Hyundai Department Store saw a 20.4% increase in Lunar New Year gift set sales compared to the previous year. By category, meat grew by 24.9%, fresh produce by 23.3%, seafood by 10.7%, and health supplements by 6.7%. Ultra-premium Hanwoo gift sets priced over 1 million won grew by 45% compared to the previous year. More than 90% of the prepared stock of high-priced Hanwoo gift sets was sold, and about 20 types of Hanwoo gift sets, including Hyundai Luxury Hanwoo Special (1.3 million won), sold out early.

Premium Lunar New Year gift sets such as home appliances, pure gold, and luxury goods were also popular at convenience stores. At CU, sales of Lunar New Year gift sets from the 23rd of last month to the 26th of this month increased by 27.5% compared to last year. Fresh produce (125.7%), seafood (131.8%), and specialty products (95.1%) showed high growth rates, and sales of home appliances such as Kojima massage chairs (1.98 million won), Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 (1.9987 million won), and Nintendo Animal Crossing (380,000 won) increased by 24.5%.

GS25 introduced a unique premium product, a camping car priced at 73.7 million won, and currently two people have applied and are in purchase consultation. At 7-Eleven, sales of wallets and bags from luxury brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Ferragamo increased by 52.2% compared to the previous year. At Emart24, about 80 massage chairs (around 2 million won) and massagers (100,000 to 300,000 won) were sold, and pure gold products such as tiger gold bars sold for about 200 million won.