[Distribution Hot People] Everyday Ideas... The Ultimate Cost-Effective 'Wonderbap'

Instant Rice and Stir-fried Kimchi 1,500 Won
Often Purchased Together with Cup Ramen
Aiming to Launch Over 10 Types of Lunchboxes This Year

"Wonderbap commercialized ideas discovered in everyday life. It means you can add ('deol') the ramen or side dishes you 'want' ('won') to eat."

Honggeun Kim, Product Planner (MD) of Ready-to-Eat Food Team at Emart24.
[Photo by Emart24]

On the afternoon of the 24th, Kim Hong-geun, a product planner (MD) of the Ready-to-Eat Food Team at Emart24, whom we met at the Emart24 headquarters in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, said, "Many people buy lunch boxes or cup noodles for lunch, but men often find the portion insufficient when eating only these." He added, "If you buy instant rice and stir-fried kimchi separately, it costs about 3,500 won additionally, which is a financial burden. So I thought it would be good to launch a cost-effective (price-performance) product."

Wonderbap focused entirely on price. Kim MD explained, "The smallest amount of rice we could package was 170g, and we composed the product with 30g of stir-fried kimchi for 1,500 won. To lower the price as much as possible, we even considered changing the product container to plastic wrap." He added, "For the second version, we are planning products with different types of rice or including pickled radish and small-packaged seaweed."

Wonderbap is gaining great popularity among franchise owners and consumers. Kim MD introduced, "At the recent Delicious Festival product exhibition, the response from franchise owners was very positive, and after the product launch, it became a hot topic on social media (SNS) and various communities." He added, "As intended in the product planning, about 35% of purchases are made simultaneously with cup noodles."

The core of the 39 Dosirak and 42 Dosirak was also cost-effectiveness. Kim MD stated, "Recently, prices have risen a lot, and even buying one lunch costs at least 10,000 won." He continued, "We planned so that buying a lunch box and cup noodles together would cost about 5,000 won." He added, "There is no 3,000 won range among other companies' full-course lunch boxes. Other convenience stores do celebrity marketing, but Emart24 focuses solely on products and prices." He also mentioned, "We are currently preparing to launch the 45 Dosirak."

Kim MD expressed, "This year, we aim to launch about 10 types of lunch boxes," and said, "We want to continue releasing cost-effective products that can be recognized by many people."