McDonald's 'Changnyeong Garlic Burger' and 'Boseong Nokdon Burger'
SPC Group Shake Shack's 'Hadong Chacha Shake'
Utilizing Local Specialties... Nationwide Early Sell-Out Crisis Ensues
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] "Sseureureu sseureureu, the juice sseureureu... sseureureu sseureureu, the Nokdon melts sseureureu. It melts completely," "Wow, it's really delicious. It melts in my mouth!"
Grandfather Kim Hyeongnam, who was picking green tea leaves in the lush tea fields of Boseong, Jeollanam-do, took a bite and gave a flavorful review in a rich regional dialect, showcasing a new burger product from a burger franchise. This advertisement video, which gained nationwide attention with its fun lyrics combining the farmers' melodious songs and Jeolla dialect, was created by McDonald's Korea in June to ambitiously promote the 'Boseong Nokdon Burger,' made using local specialties.
In the increasingly competitive domestic burger market, menu marketing utilizing local specialties is in full swing. The industry is implementing a 'win-win' strategy where both the region and the brand benefit by attracting consumer interest with a fresh image.
According to the distribution industry on the 19th, McDonald's re-released the 'Changnyeong Garlic Burger' on the 4th, which is enjoying popularity comparable to last year in its early stages. This burger, first introduced last year as part of the 'Taste of Korea' project, sold 1.58 million units within a month of its launch. It continued to sell at a rate of one every two seconds, exceeding expectations and causing an early nationwide sell-out. The burger features a garlic topping made by grinding six whole cloves of garlic, which McDonald's sources from fields in Changnyeong-eup and Daehap-myeon, Gangwon-do. The garlic is contract-grown by the Nonghyup Changnyeong County Cooperative Business Group, first processed by Changnyeong Nonghyup and Upo Nonghyup, then sent to Ottogi to be transformed into an aioli sauce mixed with olive oil. The expected total supply volume for last year and this year reaches 85 tons.
The Boseong Nokdon Burger, which became a hot topic through its advertisement video, contains a Nokdon patty raised on green tea leaf feed from Boseong, Jeollanam-do. Boseong Nokdon is functional pork fed with fermented green tea feed, which reduces cholesterol, fat content, and unpleasant odors. Not only the pork in the patty but also ingredients like cabbage, red onion, and tomato are domestically sourced, so McDonald's Korea expects it to contribute significantly to the local community. In fact, the amount of domestic ingredients supplied to McDonald's reached about 40,000 tons annually as of last year.
Shake Shack, operated by SPC Group, has also been steadily developing and selling new menu items using traditional Korean ingredients to commemorate its entry into Korea. This year, marking its 6th anniversary in Korea, Shake Shack is selling limited-edition Korean-style soy sauce-based burgers 'The Heritage 370' and 'Hadong Chacha Shake' until the 31st of this month. According to SPC Group, these new products were developed over a year with the direct participation of Mark Roscioli, Culinary Director of Shake Shack USA, along with researchers from SPC Group's Innovation Lab. They developed a new aioli sauce using perilla seeds and soy sauce, with the original soy sauce sourced from a master food artisan who has preserved the soy sauce flavor for 370 years. The filling features pickled gungchae (Korean wild chive). The Hadong Chacha Shake is a premium shake blending tropical fruits with Hadong green tea and kombucha, which is created through fermentation. Previously, in July last year, to celebrate its 5th anniversary in Korea, Shake Shack released and sold the 'Seoul-style Bulgogi Burger' in collaboration with Hanilkwan and the 'Makgeolli Shake' in collaboration with Jipyeong Makgeolli.
An industry insider analyzed, "The trend of regional coexistence in the burger industry is due to the growing global interest in K-content recently, which has led the food service industry to start paying attention to Korean tastes."
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