Interview with Bae Sohyun, Partner of Shinsegae Food FC Menu Development Team
Jjajang Burger Sells 10,000 Units Daily, Becoming This Year's Biggest Hit
No Brand Burger Competes with Unique Menu Offering Both Price and Quality
"No Brand Burger is not simply a burger with a low price. Within the brand concept of ‘cost-effectiveness,’ we offer differentiated products through unique combinations that have not been tried elsewhere while maintaining good quality relative to the price, which is why many people visit us."
On the 7th, Bae Sohyun, a partner of the FC Menu Development Team at Shinsegae Food, said in an interview with Asia Economy that they focus on developing menus that are reasonably priced yet fun and creative, and that these efforts seem to be yielding good results in the market. She explained that in the saturated domestic burger market, for a latecomer like No Brand Burger to grow and strengthen its presence, not only price competitiveness but also unique menus that catch consumers' attention are not optional but essential.
No Brand Burger recently gained a hot response from consumers with the ‘Jjajang Burger,’ developed mainly by Partner Bae, priced at 2,900 won. The Jjajang Burger, launched by Shinsegae Food on the 14th of last month, features a unique flavor created by combining a specially developed jjajang sauce with a thick meat patty, onions, and lettuce. Since its release, it has sold 10,000 units daily on average, surpassing 200,000 units in cumulative sales. This is the highest daily average sales among the new menus introduced by No Brand Burger this year.
The idea for the Jjajang Burger originated from the fact that despite the rising global recognition and preference for K-food, No Brand Burger, a domestic brand, did not have any menu related to Korean cuisine. Partner Bae explained, "Jjajangmyeon uses ingredients like meat and onions, similar to burgers, and combines salty, sweet, and umami flavors, making it an ideal combination to apply to a burger. Although jjajangmyeon is classified as Chinese food, we approached it not as Chinese cuisine but as a menu that Koreans like and enjoy, which inspired us to start development."
The most painstaking part of the development process was the jjajang sauce. Initially, they tasted all the jjajang sauces available on the market and created a sauce based on that. However, when the jjajang sauce was applied to the meat patty and combined with other ingredients like bread and lettuce, the jjajang flavor was buried and did not fully manifest. Partner Bae said, "To ensure the jjajang sauce’s flavor remains prominent inside the burger, we used chunjang to create a stronger taste than regular jjajang sauce. Additionally, we enhanced the completeness by using green onion-flavored oil to implement a grilled flavor."
Partner Bae emphasized that although No Brand Burger highlights cost-effectiveness, it is not a brand that competes solely on price. He clearly stated, "Our primary task is to maintain reasonable prices while finding the best balance of taste through ingredients and cooking methods." He added, "Even with similar menus, when we tweak them slightly to make them more fun, consumers show interest and respond. We strive to offer menus that cannot be tasted at existing franchise burger chains but only at No Brand Burger."
Partner Bae plans to continue presenting differentiated menus through various boundary-free attempts. He said, "As a follow-up menu, we are preparing a limited edition burger emphasizing an extreme size, unlike the Jjajang Burger. We will continue to develop and introduce menus that are affordable, high-quality, and fun?menus that only we can offer."
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