4 out of 10 People Say "Convenience Meals Can Replace Eating Out" [The World of Convenience Meals]

Korea Foodservice Industry Management Institute '2022 Foodservice Trend Report'

On the 18th, at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the unmanned convenience meal vending machine attracted the attention of visitors at the '2022 Seoul International Ready Meal HMR Exhibition'. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] It has been found that 4 out of 10 consumers prefer ready-to-eat meals over dining out.

According to the ‘2022 Dining Trend Report’ by the Korea Foodservice Industry Management Institute, when asked about the extent to which ready-to-eat meals replace regular dining out, 40.2% of 1,050 consumers responded that they "replace a large portion (60~less than 80%)", and 3.8% said they "completely replace (80% or more)". Following this, 32.7% answered "moderate replacement (40~less than 60%)", 18.4% said "slight replacement (20~less than 40%)", and 4.9% responded "no replacement (less than 20%)".

The institute analyzed that with the increase in single-person households and the pandemic, ‘solo dining’ and ‘home restaurant’?where people can enjoy making high-end restaurant meals at home?have gained popularity.

The institute also interpreted these survey results as causing the emergence of ‘Purple Ocean Dining.’ Purple Ocean Dining is a term combining Red Ocean (competitive market) and Blue Ocean (untapped market), meaning that restaurant ready meals (RMR), launched through collaborations between famous restaurants and distributors, are competing with existing home meal replacement (HMR) products and emerging as a new market.

According to a survey conducted by the institute in November last year targeting 568 foodservice workers, when asked about sales by operation type before and after COVID-19, the proportion of in-store sales, which accounted for 54.4% before COVID-19, decreased to 45.35%. Meanwhile, delivery, takeout, and meal kit production increased by 31.2%, 13.7%, and 3.1%, respectively.