Black and White Chef Craze... CU's Baek Jong-won Products Sales Tripled or More

Sales Increase Up to 3.4x After Airing of Heukbaek Chef
Baek Jong-won's Products Account for 20% of CU's Total Ready-to-Eat Sales
New Product 'Bulmat Gadeuk Jikhwa Bulgopchang' Released

Recently, the variety show 'Heukbaek Chef' has been gaining popularity, and sales of products released through a collaboration between CU and culinary researcher Baek Jong-won have surged.

Convenience store CU, operated by BGF Retail, announced on the 29th that sales of Baek Jong-won collaboration products have increased more than threefold since the program's release.

Collaboration products with Baek Jong-won sold by CU.
[Photo by BGF Retail]

Specifically, during the 40 days following the release of Heukbaek Chef (September 17 to October 27), sales of over 30 Baek Jong-won collaboration products currently on sale increased up to 3.4 times compared to the previous period (August 7 to September 16). The sales growth rates by product category during this period were ▲ready meals 102.1% ▲noodles 240.8% ▲beverages 139.8% ▲alcoholic drinks 111.7% ▲side dishes 176.7% ▲others (ingredients, etc.) 240.1%.

In particular, Baek Jong-won's ready meals account for more than 20% of CU's total ready meal sales immediately after the Heukbaek Chef broadcast. The 'Baek Jong-won Kimchi Jjigae Ramen,' released in collaboration with culinary researcher Baek Jong-won, rose 17 ranks in product ranking compared to before the broadcast and ranks 8th in CU's overall cup noodle sales, while Baek Ramen bag noodles saw sales surge by 250%.

Culinary researcher Baek Jong-won has been working as a product consultant for CU for 10 years since 2015. Baek Jong-won's ready meals have sold a total of 400 million units until last year, and among this year's top-selling lunchboxes, three are Baek Jong-won lunchboxes, showing their popularity.

CU will release a differentiated side dish using Baek Jong-won's recipe, 'Fire-flavored Grilled Gopchang' (8,900 KRW), on the 30th of this month. This is the third Baek Cook side dish product following garlic soy sauce boneless jokbal and garlic mustard smoked pork belly. This product uses 100% domestic pork small intestines, grilled with spicy seasoning over direct fire to emphasize the smoky flavor, containing Baek Jong-won's secret know-how. This product will be available at a discounted price of 7,900 KRW throughout November.

Lee Eun-gwan, head of BGF Retail's Strategic MD Team, said, "Culinary researcher Baek Jong-won, who has continued a beautiful partnership with CU for the past 10 years, is the best expert and partner who has innovated domestic convenience store products." He added, "CU will continue to develop unparalleled excellent products with him to always provide customers with new enjoyment."