Key Ingredients Also Plunge in Price as Popularity Falls
Entry of Major Retailers and Food Sanitation Act Issues Also to Blame
The Dubai chewy cookie (Dujjonku) craze, which had enjoyed explosive popularity, now appears to be fading. This perception has grown as numerous posts have recently appeared in self-employed business owner communities, saying that Dujjonku stock is not being cleared and that it is not selling even when discounted.
Recently, in the online community for self-employed business owners "It Hurts Because I'm the Boss," posts such as "It doesn't sell even when I mark it down to 2,000 won" and "It has turned into dead stock" have been uploaded.
One self-employed business owner said, "It is still true that it is the best-selling item among desserts, but it is no longer to the extent that people line up or that we have to impose purchase limits like when it was at the peak of its trend."
Another self-employed business owner wrote that sales had been sluggish, saying, "I was worried about what to do if there were too many orders, but I ended up making it comfortably without any pressure."
The decline in Dujjonku's popularity is also evident in the price trends of its key ingredients. According to Polcent, an app that tracks price fluctuations on online shopping malls, the price of one 900g pack of unsalted pistachios has fallen to about half of what it was a month ago.
Another pistachio spread product (230g) is priced at 29,400 won as of 4:30 p.m. on the 17th, which is the lowest price since it went on sale. The highest price at which it was sold was 46,350 won. This means the price has fallen by 36.57% over the past few months.
The price of marshmallows has also dropped sharply. The current selling price of a 1kg product is 13,990 won, down 71.39% from the peak price of 48,990 won. The average price is 33,018 won.
The distribution industry believes this is because large corporations in the sector, often referred to as "dinosaurs," have begun selling Dujjonku. In general, their quality and hygiene control are superior to those of small business owners, and as consumers are aware of this, they have been turning to well-known franchise stores.
Issues related to the Food Sanitation Act are also a major factor. According to an analysis by Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Ilyoung, a member of the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee, of data submitted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Korea Consumer Agency on the 15th, complaints related to Dujjonku stood at zero from January 2024 to October last year, then increased to 1 case in November and 15 cases in December. In January this year, the number surged to 118 cases.
This accounts for about 6% of the total 2,042 complaints regarding desserts and confectionery in the same month. Of these, answers have been completed for 90 cases, and 28 cases are currently being processed.
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