"Baehongdong Bibimbap & Honey Twist Makgeolli"... CU Expands Brand Partnership with Nongshim

6 Types of Ready Meals Using Baehongdong Sauce Released
Honey Kkwabaegi Makgeolli Also Launching Next Month
Jjapagetti Ready Meal Series Surpasses 1 Million Units Sold

CU, a convenience store operated by BGF Retail, announced on the 24th that it will release six types of ready-to-eat meals using Baehongdong all-purpose sauce in collaboration with Nongshim. This is the second collaboration following the launch of the Jjapagetti ready-to-eat meal in March.

CU Nongshim Bae Hong Dong Ready-to-Eat Meal Series Released.
[Photo by BGF Retail]

CU and Nongshim explained that they planned the Baehongdong ready-to-eat meal series to suit the summer season. The series preserves the flavor of the bibim sauce made by grinding and fermenting pear, red chili pepper, and dongchimi, as the product name Baehongdong suggests, while featuring popular dishes with tuna, chicken, and pork cutlet as main ingredients.

Among them, three ready-to-eat meals are made with tuna. In addition to the "Baehongdong Tuna Bibimbap," which contains vegetables, tuna, sesame oil, and bibim sauce together, they will introduce the "Baehongdong Bibim Tuna Yubu Rice Bar" and "Baehongdong Tuna Gimbap."

Ready-to-eat meals featuring chicken and pork cutlet as main ingredients will also be released. The "Baehongdong Pocket Seasoned Chicken" is a single-serving chicken product mixed with Baehongdong all-purpose sauce. The "Baehongdong Menchikatsu Burger" adds cabbage Baehongdong bibim salad to the menchikatsu, and the "Baehongdong Pork Cutlet Sandwich" combines radish wrap and pork cutlet with Baehongdong sauce.

Collaboration will also extend to alcoholic beverages. CU will launch "Honey Kkwabaegi Makgeolli," made using Nongshim's representative snack, Kkwabaegi, next month. It features the original sweetness of the Kkwabaegi snack and an apple scent, with a smooth finish.

The Jjapagetti ready-to-eat meal series, previously released through collaboration between CU and Nongshim, gained popularity with products using Jjapagetti all-purpose sauce. The Jjapagetti series products ranked among the popular search terms on CU's own commerce app "PocketCU" immediately after release, and cumulative sales exceeded one million units by mid-month.

Jung Jaehyun, head of the ready-to-eat food team at BGF Retail, said, "With CU's quick trend responsiveness and product deployment through over 18,000 offline stores, we continue to receive love calls from major food manufacturers," adding, "We will continue to take the lead in the convenience store ready-to-eat meal market through various attempts that can provide customers with new tastes and fun."