As the intense summer heat officially begins, ice cream and beverage companies are launching unique new products to target the summer peak season. The strategy focuses on offering distinctive textures and shapes to appeal to Zalphas (a portmanteau of Gen Z and Alpha, referring to those born from the mid-1990s to early 2010s), a generation that enjoys seeking out and sharing new experiences.
According to the food industry on the 29th, Binggrae recently introduced its new product "Squeeze-to-Eat Heatwave Hunter." Unlike previous Heatwave Hunter products that had to be split in half before eating, this version comes in a pouch, allowing consumers to squeeze it out like a coffee slushy without getting their hands dirty, even outdoors. Particularly, since it can be mixed with milk and other ingredients, it is said to have successfully targeted the preferences of Zalphas who enjoy creating and consuming custom recipes according to their tastes.
Lotte Wellfood recently launched "Jelly-Eaten Jaws Bar" and "Jelly-Eaten Screw Bar," reflecting the "freezing jelly" trend popular among Zalphas. These products feature a dual texture by incorporating chewy jelly inside crunchy ice cream. The "Jelly-Eaten Jaws Bar" contains purple grape-flavored jelly inside shark-shaped peach-flavored ice cream, while the "Jelly-Eaten Screw Bar" adds strawberry-flavored jelly to twisted gold kiwi-flavored ice cream.
Baskin-Robbins' "Wagjak Bingsu" is also gaining popularity through word of mouth. This product features soft snowflake ice cream mixed with cookie pieces and nuts to enhance its chewy texture, available in three varieties: strawberry, red bean, and mango banana. Due to its popularity, Baskin-Robbins now also sells Wagjak Bingsu in cup bingsu form.
New alcoholic beverages targeting outdoor summer activities are also drawing attention. GS25 exclusively launched "Seolhwa Keg Beer" on the 24th with a limited quantity of 30,000 units, selling out 10,000 units within three days of release. "Seolhwa" is a Chinese lager beer whose name means "snowflake beer."
Unlike regular canned beers, Seolhwa Keg Beer is packaged in an insulated aluminum keg container, allowing it to maintain freshness, coolness, and temperature for extended periods, making it ideal for consumption outdoors at summer resorts or campsites. The alcohol content is 4.3%, and the price is 5,400 won per unit (12,000 won when purchasing four cans). Responding to strong consumer interest, the product is scheduled to be gradually stocked in all GS25 stores nationwide starting the first week of next month.
Ice cream and beer sales are highly sensitive to weather conditions due to their tendency to increase during outdoor activities. While higher temperatures generally boost sales, prolonged heatwaves approaching 40°C can lead to reduced outdoor activity and consequently lower consumption—a counterreaction. The number of rainy days, which significantly impacts outdoor activities, is also identified as a key variable determining sales volume.
In fact, Lotte Wellfood's ice cream sales for the first half of this year increased by approximately 10% compared to the same period last year. This growth occurred because May and June, when ice cream consumption typically peaks, provided optimal weather conditions for sales. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the average temperature in May reached 18.6°C, setting a record high for that month, bringing early summer heat while rainfall remained at the annual average level (123.5mm). In contrast, last month (June) saw an average temperature of 22.2°C, which was 0.7°C lower than the previous year's 22.9°C, but rainfall totaled only 95.4mm—64.9% below the annual average of 148.2mm. The number of rainy days in June also stood at 6.9 days, three days fewer than the annual average of 9.9 days.
A food industry official stated, "With the rainy season ending briefly this month and intense heat officially beginning, we are expecting a significant expansion in sales."
in LIVING
