"Still No. 1?" New Snacks Keep Coming, but Korea’s Beloved Snacks Sell 130 Billion Won Even After 50 Years

Analysis of Embrain’s Deep Purchase Data for the Past Year

Saewookkang by Nongshim Tops the List with 132.7 Billion Won

Pepero and Pocachip Also Form “Big Three” with Over 100 Billion Won Each

Top 10 Brands Estimated to Generate at Le

Long-standing snack products that have consistently enjoyed consumer popularity in the market, such as Saewookkang, Pepero, Choco Pie, and Matdongsan, are maintaining annual sales of around 100 billion won. This phenomenon illustrates how 'taste is passed down from parents to children,' allowing these established favorites to remain competitive in a market where short-lived trends often dominate, supported by a stable production base.

Snack sales stand at a major supermarket in Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

According to Embrain's purchase deep data, which analyzed the sales of snacks that have been on the market for more than 30 years based on purchase receipts from 20,000 individual panelists, the best-selling snack from July last year to June this year was Nongshim's Saewookkang, with estimated purchases across major online and offline retail channels amounting to 132.7 billion won.

While the estimated purchase value may differ from the manufacturer’s official sales figures, it appears that Saewookkang’s estimated sales over the past year have surpassed last year’s sales records, as calculated by the industry. According to data published by market research firm Market Link through Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) food industry statistics, the nationwide retail sales revenue for Saewookkang last year was 126.9 billion won.

The second highest estimated purchase value among long-running snacks was Pepero by Lotte Wellfood, with approximately 118.8 billion won sold over the past year. In third place was Orion’s potato snack Pocachip, recording an estimated purchase value of 113 billion won, about 5 billion won less than Pepero. Rounding out the top 10 long-standing snacks were the following: Haitai Confectionery’s Homerun Ball (93.3 billion won), Orion’s Choco Pie Jeong (89.8 billion won), Haitai Confectionery’s Ace (86.4 billion won), Lotte Wellfood’s Kkokkal Corn (76.7 billion won), Haitai Confectionery’s Oh Yes (72.7 billion won), Orion’s Ojingeo Peanut (63.5 billion won), and Haitai Confectionery’s Matdongsan (60.1 billion won).

The average monthly estimated purchases for these long-standing snacks range from at least 5 billion won to over 11 billion won, exceeding the food industry’s typical hit product threshold—monthly sales of 1 billion won—by as much as tenfold. Many of these products were first launched in the 1970s and 1980s, captivating consumers for over 30 to 50 years. An industry insider commented, “Brand recognition that doesn’t follow trends is deeply ingrained with consumers, and parents in their forties and above, who have enjoyed these snacks since childhood, often seek them out, naturally exposing the next generation and helping shape their tastes.”

From the manufacturers’ perspective, the fact that these long-running snacks have been beloved for half a century and continue to produce stable sales is a competitive strength, but at the same time, it presents a dilemma because it can limit opportunities for new hit products to emerge. Even when a product with differentiated flavors, ingredients, or features attracts attention and resonates in the market, it is difficult to establish it as a long-running brand generating consistently over 1 to 2 billion won in monthly sales.

In fact, even when products that cause supply shortages upon launch appear, most manufacturers’ production lines remain focused on long-established bestsellers, making it challenging to rapidly expand production. A food industry source explained, “Even within the same snack category, production methods vary widely by product. Just because a new item is selling well doesn’t mean you can quickly expand that product line or easily adapt equipment by reducing production of other items.” They added, “Although on the ground there’s often strong demand to ramp up production, in a climate where long-term demand forecasting is difficult, manufacturers must be cautious about expanding capacity each time a new popular product emerges. Increasing the number of long-running products would strengthen future competitiveness, but manufacturers remain concerned about these practical limitations.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.