As the 'unique twist' of adding unfamiliar flavors to familiar brands has become a common strategy across the food and beverage industry, seasonal limited products featuring unexpected ingredient combinations are being launched one after another across snacks, carbonated water, and alcoholic beverages. This is interpreted as an attempt targeting the recent consumer trend of actively verifying new flavor experiences on social media (SNS).
According to the food industry on the 22nd, Lotte Wellfood's four seasonal limited products in the 'Yajang Series' launched at the end of last month surpassed a cumulative sales volume of 800,000 packs within two weeks of release. The series integrates the outdoor eating and drinking 'Yajang' culture into snacks, featuring ssamjang samgyeopsal flavor, magical corn flavor, walking taco flavor, and butter-grilled squid flavor.
The three flavors excluding ssamjang samgyeopsal are characterized by varying retail locations across convenience stores, adding the fun of collecting products. Magical corn flavor is sold at GS25, walking taco flavor at CU, and butter-grilled squid flavor at 7-Eleven. This strategy is seen as a move to make it easier for these products to become trending topics online by encouraging customers to visit multiple stores. According to Lotte Wellfood, SNS posts sharing experiences of the four products or inventory status by store continue to appear.
Nongshim also launched four 'Potato Chip Dining Series' products simultaneously on the 10th in collaboration with four convenience store chains. These include CU-exclusive 'Gourmet Potato Salted Butter Flavor', GS25's 'Potato Chip Spicy Carbonara Flavor', 7-Eleven's 'Butter Garlic Shrimp Flavor', and E-Mart24's 'Cream Cheese Sausage Flavor'. The products realize the taste and richness of dishes using potato chips. Nongshim is also conducting a 'convenience store stamp collection' event where consumers try all four potato chip flavors and verify their experience.
In the beverage industry, Woongjin Foods launched carbonated water 'The Victoria Oylemon' and 'Cool Lime' in June. These are botanical craft sodas combining fruits, vegetables, and herbs, emphasizing reduced sweetness while highlighting natural aromas and refreshing sensations.
The Victoria entered the carbonated water market in 2015 with two flavors, 'Plain' and 'Lemon', and has since released 39 different flavors over 11 years. In 2023, it introduced a 'Highball Flavor' inspired by whiskey aromas, and in 2024, it launched limited editions of 'Apple Sherbet' and 'Apple Mango'. Last year, to mark the brand's 10th anniversary, it released 'Tomato Basil Soda'. According to Woongjin Foods, this product gained word-of-mouth buzz on SNS and sold 300,000 bottles within a month of release.
The same trend is appearing in the alcoholic beverage sector. HiteJinro has been selling three types of RTD (ready-to-drink) 'Terra Sparkling' products seasonally since the 4th of this month. These are fruit sparkling wines made by adding fruit juice to Spanish white wine, available in tomato, lemon, and watermelon flavors. The canned products come in 485ml sizes, with alcohol content at 4.6% for tomato and watermelon, and 7% for lemon.
A food industry official stated, "Even familiar brands tend to see consumers actively try new products and share them on SNS when new flavors and unique concepts are added." They added, "Flavors reflecting seasons, latest trends, and consumer preferences are expected to become new consumption points."
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