Gangnam Center Is in a Hamburger War Without Gunfire

bhc Group SuperDuper sells 20,000 burgers in 2 weeks
High demand despite 140,000 KRW price... Gordon Ramsay Burger monthly sales 1 billion KRW
Popeyes, which withdrew in 2020, likely to reopen near Gangnam Station
Hanwha Group preparing to open Five Guys in first half of next year

On the opening day, the 1st, customers are waiting to enter SuperDuper Gangnam branch. Photo by bhc Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Competition in the domestic burger market is becoming increasingly fierce, centered around the Gangnam area of Seoul, where there is a high flow of young customers.

According to the industry on the 20th, ‘Super Duper’ by bhc Group, which opened near Sinnonhyeon Station earlier this month, achieved the remarkable feat of selling 20,000 burger products within two weeks of opening. On the opening day, the 1st, about 1,200 customers flocked in a single day, and the very first waiting customer officially took a half-day off work to visit the place.

SPC Group’s Shake Shack, located just a 5-minute walk directly across the street, is still maintaining its lead as a premium burger brand in Korea despite the boycott movement following a recent accident at the SPL bakery factory.

Shake Shack is a brand introduced to Korea by SPC Group in 2016, and since then, a premium handmade burger craze has begun in the domestic burger market.

All 23 branches nationwide are operated as directly managed stores, so the expansion speed is slower than other franchises, but it is solidifying its position in the market by offering menus that can be tasted locally in the U.S.

The handmade burger specialty restaurant ‘Gordon Ramsay Burger,’ which opened in January this year at Lotte World Mall in Songpa-gu, Seoul, in the Gangnam area, is also gaining great popularity. The price of the signature menu, the ‘Hell’s Kitchen Burger,’ is 31,000 KRW, making it one of the most expensive in the industry, and the ‘1966 Burger’ is sold for a whopping 140,000 KRW. Despite the high prices, reservation customers have been lining up from the moment the store opened until now. As of last month, Gordon Ramsay Burger’s average monthly sales reached 1 billion KRW, with a cumulative visitor count of 200,000, and the cumulative sales volume of the 1966 Burger reached 10,000 units.

Popeyes, which withdrew from the domestic market in 2020, is expected to re-enter the Korean market by opening a branch near Gangnam Station as early as the end of this month, and Hanwha Group is also planning to launch ‘Five Guys,’ one of the top three burger brands in the U.S., in the Gangnam area in the first half of next year, so competition in the domestic burger market in this area is expected to become even more intense.

However, not all burger brands have succeeded. ‘Good Stuff Eatery Burger,’ ambitiously opened by Daewoo Industrial Development near Sinnonhyeon Station in May, closed its business five months after launching at the end of last month. It was evaluated as insufficient to satisfy the increasingly picky tastes of domestic consumers compared to its high price in the 10,000 KRW range.

Because of this, the industry expects the overall market to grow in the future, but some express concerns that this overheating trend could lead to a chicken game. An industry insider said, “The area near Gangnam Station has especially high foot traffic and is considered a ‘prime location,’ making it optimal for selling premium burgers, which are now recognized as a kind of luxury food among young people. However, as the market approaches saturation, each brand must enhance its competitiveness by providing quality and rich consumer experiences that justify the high prices to survive.”

According to market research firm Euromonitor, the domestic hamburger market grew 28.6% from 2.3038 trillion KRW in 2015 to 2.9636 trillion KRW in 2020, and it is estimated to have surpassed 4 trillion KRW last year, with expectations to approach 5 trillion KRW next year.