Seoul Dragon City Takeout Sales Up 40%
Expanding 5-Star Hotel Menu and Price Range
Housewife Eunhye Lee (37) has been using hotel 'To-Go' products since last year's holidays. When shopping at the market, the portions are often large, leading to leftovers or waste, but To-Go products offer just the right amount of food prepared by famous restaurant chefs, resulting in relatively high satisfaction. With To-Go products consisting of holiday dishes, she simply performs the ancestral rites and then packs up to take a short 'hotel vacation' with her family to a nearby hotel. Lee said, "I tried the hotel To-Go product for the first time last year, and the portions were just right, and the food prepared by a top chef was very satisfying for the whole family," adding, "I plan to use To-Go products regularly during holidays from now on."
The early morning scene of bustlingly preparing the ancestral rites table on holiday mornings is changing. Previously, it was common to prepare holiday dishes by hand and share them with relatives, but now there is an increasing demand for families to prepare a simple table and enjoy a luxurious meal, even if they eat less. The industry is responding to this trend by offering various premium To-Go products and focusing on creating diverse menus tailored to customer preferences.
According to the industry on the 5th, sales of the 'Chuseok Premium To-Go' product, which Seoul Dragon City has been pre-selling since the 1st, increased by about 40% compared to the same period last year. To-Go products were launched during the COVID-19 period when dining out was difficult due to social distancing, allowing customers to enjoy chef-prepared meals at home. For this Chuseok, Seoul Dragon City prepared main dishes such as royal japchae, three-colored namul, pine mushroom herbal galbijjim, grilled abalone asparagus, grilled croaker, and four-colored assorted jeon, with five-colored songpyeon, dried persimmons, and yakgwa as dessert. The menu can be adjusted according to customer preferences.
The Plaza Hotel also launched a limited To-Go product prepared directly by the hotel's head chef. The menu includes ten items such as abalone sushi, herbal galbijjim, traditional yakbap, and grilled Yeonggwang gulbi. As the To-Go products gained popularity, The Plaza Hotel formed a dedicated 'To-Go department' in 2021 and has been paying special attention to menu composition. This year, they focused on health by mainly using agricultural and livestock products to meet customer demand.
JW Marriott Hotel emphasized a wide range of themes to expand choices. They prepared various themes such as the 'Beef Collection' consisting of meats, the 'Seafood Collection' rich in seafood, and the 'Holiday Jeotgal Set' for enjoying special flavors, allowing customers to choose according to their tastes, with a broad price range.
The Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas is selling the 'Chef's Special Ancestral Table Set,' which offers eight types of ancestral dishes including domestic gulbi, Korean beef, and sea bream. Le M?ridien Seoul Myeongdong plans to sell two types of 'Holiday To-Go' products starting from the 20th of this month: one including yukwonjeon, zucchini jeon, pollack jeon, mung bean jeon, braised short ribs, grilled buse gulbi (three pieces), and seafood japchae; and a 'Premium Holiday To-Go' that adds Korean beef oxtail stew, Korean beef bulgogi, and Yeonggwang gulbi.
Jeon Mi-young, a research fellow at Seoul National University Trend Center, explained, "The coined term 'Convenience Premium' (convenience + premium) reflects how modern people invest generously in places that save time and effort," adding, "Although hotel To-Go products are priced high, they conveniently replace the ancestral rites table, and with more families celebrating rites quietly due to COVID-19, the demand for properly prepared meals even for a single meal is reflected in their popularity."
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