A Year-Round Convenience Store Hit with 20 Million Sold 'Hyoja Item'... Large Ice Cups Selling Like Hotcakes

Large-Capacity Beverages Influenced by Trend Seeking Cost-Effectiveness

CU announced on the 25th that the cumulative sales of its large-capacity Venti ice cups, the first of their kind in the industry, have surpassed 20 million units.

CU's Venti cup ice is a 400g product, about twice the size of the existing regular ice cup (180g) and big ice cup (230g), and was first introduced by CU in 2021 as an industry-first product.

A customer is showcasing a large-sized Venti ice cup sold by CU.
[Photo by BGF Retail]

Analyzing the sales proportion trends of ice cups over the past five years, CU found that the sales share of large-capacity ice cups steadily increased from 39.9% in 2019 to 45.7% in 2020. In 2021, when the Venti ice cup was launched, it recorded 54.0% for the first time, surpassing the sales of regular ice cups. Subsequently, the gap widened further with 58.9% in 2022 and 67.4% in 2023. In particular, the share of Venti ice cups has continued to rise from 17.2% in 2021 to 23.1% in 2022 and 25.3% this year.

CU attributes this trend to the growing preference for large-capacity beverages and an increase in consumers seeking cost-effectiveness. A BGF Retail official stated, "Cup ice is a product that consistently shows steady sales throughout the year regardless of the season at convenience stores and ranks first in overall product sales," adding, "Although the product differentiation is not very distinct, CU closely analyzes customer consumption trends and launches various types and forms of products to create new demand."