"Is It Happening Again?" "This Time Is Different"... Rice Cakes Make a Vibrant Comeback Among MZ Generation [The Way We Live Now]

Rice Cake, From Holiday Fare to Everyday Hip Dessert
K-Dessert Emerges as a New Export Engine
Industry Nears 1 Trillion-Won Market ... Challenge of Polarization Among Small Tteok Shops

Editor's NoteWhat are people buying these days? From essential household items picked up at Daiso to cosmetic products that are constantly sold out at Olive Young, and even breads that require waiting in line—today's consumer market is vividly reflected in these familiar consumption scenes. is a serial feature that decodes current consumption trends through 'best-selling items' in everyday life. We explore which products are selected and what strategies open consumers' wallets—explaining changes in the consumer landscape in an accessible and engaging way.

"I came out this early in the morning just to get Pizza Seolgi."

The so-called "tteok pilgrimage"—traveling to renowned rice cake shops nationwide—is spreading as a new consumption culture among Millennials & Gen Z. Traditional tteok, once reserved for holidays or special occasions and shared in bulk, is now being reborn as a "hip dessert" that captures the everyday preferences of people in their 20s and 30s. The trend known as "halmaenial" (grandma + millennial), typified by treats like yakgwa and yanggaeng, along with the recent craze for all things "chewy," is rapidly making tteok the preferred choice for specialty dessert seekers, replacing the former dominance of "bread pilgrimages."

YouTuber Woo Jungying is tasting pizza tteok and cranberry tteok. Screengrab from Woo Jungying's YouTube channel video.

This trend is evident in Google Trends and big data indices. According to Google Trends, searches for "tteok pilgrimage" surged by more than 5,000% compared to the previous year, while "Pizza Seolgi" itself saw a 1,800% increase from the previous month and over 5,000% year-on-year. Sometrend analysis showed that from January to August of this year, online posts mentioning tteok and "dessert" together increased by more than 40% compared to the same period last year. On blogs, mentions of "tteok pilgrimage" jumped from 87 posts in January to 254 in August, a growth of approximately 2.9 times.

"After Ddujjonku, It's Pizza Seolgi"... Synergy of Fusion Recipes and Media Influence

The driving force behind the tteok craze lies in unconventional fusion products that break the mold, coupled with the amplifying power of mass media. "Pizza Seolgi," which features tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni atop baekseolgi (white steamed rice cake), preserves the unique texture of rice cake instead of wheat dough. Gaining word-of-mouth fame at Yeongdodari Tteokbang in Busan, it quickly spread to neighborhood stores nationwide. A rice cake shop at Bupyeong General Market in Incheon saw its daily sales jump from 200 to as many as 6,000 units—an increase of 30 times—in just two months after launching Pizza Seolgi. Across South Korea, famous shops experienced order overload and had to suspend reservations, leading to phenomena coined "tteokpeunrun" (tteok + open run) and "tteokketting" (tteok + ticketing) becoming normalized events.

This craze was further fueled by appearances on popular entertainment shows. In the tvN show "Earth Arcade 2" spin-off "Universe Rice Cake Shop," cast members (Lee Eunji, Mimi, Lee Youngji, and An Yujin) were shown making and selling tteok themselves in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, stoking curiosity and purchase desire among young consumers. Products combining traditional ingredients like black sesame, mugwort, adlay, and dried persimmon with modern additions such as yogurt, cream, fruit, and peanut butter are achieving consecutive hits, broadening the overall reach of the market.

Pizza Seolgi. Screenshot from KBS Gyeongnam YouTube channel video

Industry Competes to Expand the Tteok Pilgrimage Market

Distribution platforms are quickly absorbing this surging demand by collaborating with famous tteok shops and hosting pop-up stores. From January 1 to September 7 this year, tteok sales at CU—run by BGF Retail—jumped 125.6% compared to the same period last year. The "Hongmandang" collaboration series, launched with the shop famous for strawberry glutinous rice cake, achieved cumulative sales of about 600,000 units. Building on the popularity of two original mochi varieties (strawberry and shine muscat), CU expanded its lineup on September 15 to include an "injeolmi butter toast peanut butter flavor" that combines mochi and peanut butter. GS25 also generated explosive demand with its "Han Jung Sun Yogurt Glutinous Rice Cake," developed in partnership with a popular brand in Seongsu-dong, selling more than 260,000 units in just four days post-launch. Among inbound foreign tourists, this product has become a must-try K-dessert by word-of-mouth.

CU Hongmandang Collaboration Series. BGF Retail

Major supermarkets and e-commerce platforms are also experiencing rapid growth. From January 1 to September 17, frozen tteok sales at Emart rose by 155% compared to the same period last year, with sales in the past three months (July to September) alone up 120%. Emart has broadened its product range to include pumpkin injeolmi, assorted glutinous tteok, and whole red bean glutinous tteok from Gwangju's famous Chang-eok Tteok, as well as added mugwort and white bean paste jeolpyeon, and expanded its selection of five varieties from "Maeum-iga." Lotte Mart, too, saw its frozen tteok sales surge by over 90% and its lineup of unique tteok made with fruit and cream increase by around 30% from March to August this year. At Kurly, transaction value in the tteok & hangwa category from June to August doubled (up 100%) from a year earlier, with the flagship Chang-eok Pumpkin Injeolmi up 336% in transaction value.

Offline department stores and large shopping malls are jumping into the competition to attract customers with tteok pop-up events. At Lotte Department Store's Dongtan location ("Masitteok" from Yongin) and Busan Main Branch ("Yeongdodari Tteokbang" from Busan), and at Yongsan I'Park Mall ("Gangwon Tteokjip X Ttegeureureu Bakery," "Morak Jeolmi," and "Jjuak Jjuak"), the pop-ups resulted in daily open runs and early sold-out situations. Emart24 is also ramping up experiential retail by offering a total of 11 famous rice cake shop products at its Seongsu and Seoul Forest Trend Lab and Dessert Lab locations, including five types from Yeongdodari Tteokbang (Pizza Seolgi) and six varieties from Iksan Nonghyup Tteokbangatgan (fresh cream, strawberry, black sesame, coffee, blueberry glutinous rice cakes).

The Tteok Industry Approaching 1 Trillion Won... Challenges of Polarization and Sustainable Growth

This modernization of traditional rice cakes is transforming the broader F&B market and significantly expanding its scale. According to Ministry of Data and Statistics, domestic tteok sales jumped about 65% in six years, from 564.1 billion won in 2018 to 929.1 billion won in 2024, surpassing a 10% market share within the confectionery and bakery sector.

However, there are also challenges hidden behind this dazzling expansion. As interest on social media intensifies and certain fusion tteok brands align with large distribution networks, consumer spending is increasingly concentrated, leading to a polarization where small, traditional tteok shops—once reliant on holiday or celebratory occasions—are closing at a 15% rate over the past five years.

Rice Cake Shop with No Customers. Yonhap News

Experts evaluate that the craze for tteok desserts, represented by Pizza Seolgi and unique glutinous rice cakes, is making significant contributions to boosting domestic rice consumption and expanding the global influence of K-food. However, for this wave to persist beyond just a fleeting trend, it is seen as essential to establish win-win models between distributors and small-scale producers, and to support systematic R&D and long-term product development strategies that combine the strengths of traditional manufacturing methods with modern hygiene and quality standards.

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