CU Launches 400 Won Melon Bar and 800 Won Choco Tube
Ultra-Low Price Ice Cream Sales Up 37% Year-on-Year
Aims to Curb Rapidly Growing Ice Cream Discount Stores
In an era of high inflation, the number of consumers practicing 'jjantech' (frugal spending) is increasing, leading to the popularity of ultra-low-priced ice cream. As ice cream discount stores rapidly expand their presence with a low-margin, high-volume strategy, convenience stores, feeling a sense of crisis, have launched ice creams priced under 1000 won one after another to attract consumers.
According to the industry on the 24th, CU, a convenience store operated by BGF Retail, will release two types of 800-won tube-shaped ice creams, '800 Tube Choco' and '800 Tube Cola,' on the 26th. Following the launch of the 400-won '400 Bar Melon' on the 5th and the '1000 Cone Strawberry Milk Flavor' on the 12th, they are once again introducing ultra-low-priced ice creams under 1000 won. CU had previously launched '400 Bar Mango Flavor,' '400 Bar Choco Flavor,' '1000 Cone Vanilla Flavor,' and '1000 Cone Choco Flavor' in 2022.
The recent expansion of CU's ultra-low-priced ice cream lineup is due to the rapid increase in demand from jjantech consumers amid high inflation. These consumers, facing soaring grocery prices, are turning to ultra-low-priced ice creams as their wallets have become lighter.
In fact, according to BGF Retail, from January this year to the 18th of this month, sales of CU's ice creams priced under 1000 won increased by 37.4% compared to a year ago. This figure is 11.0 percentage points higher than the 26.4% increase in total ice cream sales during the same period.
A BGF Retail official said, "To reduce the burden of grocery prices on customers, we significantly increased the number of ultra-low-priced ice cream products to broaden consumers' choices."
Behind CU's rush to launch ultra-low-priced ice creams is also the intention to counter the rapidly growing ice cream discount stores. According to the industry, the number of ice cream discount stores, which was only 2,200 in 2019, exceeded 4,000 in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic and is now estimated to have surpassed 5,000.
Most ice cream discount stores are unmanned outlets that adopt a low-margin, high-volume strategy, making their prices much cheaper than convenience stores. For example, Lotte Wellfood's Screw Bar is sold for 600 won at discount stores, while convenience stores sell it for more than double that price at 1,500 won. As a result, the perception that convenience store ice cream is expensive has taken hold, and more consumers are buying ice cream at discount stores. Moreover, discount stores use cheap ice cream as bait to sell snacks, ramen, and beverages, making it necessary for convenience stores to come up with countermeasures. This appears to be why the ultra-low-priced ice cream lineup is expanding.
An industry insider from the convenience store sector said, "As ice cream discount stores have become widespread recently, many consumers have shifted away from convenience stores, saying their ice cream is expensive," adding, "It seems that ultra-low-priced ice creams are being launched to break this perception."
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