They'd Never Even Tried It, Yet Begged, "Please Bring It Back"... The Response Was a Smash Hit

'Tried-and-True Nostalgia' Hits the Mark Amid Downturn
Fresh Appeal for Younger Consumers, Too

As food companies increasingly adopt “newtro” strategies to bring back products that were once popular, some say they are precisely targeting consumer sentiment.

Nongshim's Stir-Fried Neoguri, relaunched in limited quantities on the 27th.

According to food industry sources on October 31, Nongshim’s presale for the relaunch of Stir-Fried Neoguri, held on its online mall on October 14, sold out just two hours after it began. The presale allocation was 3,000 sets, or 48,000 packs in total. Stir-Fried Neoguri officially went on sale both online and offline on October 27, but it soon began selling out. Launched in 2017, the product was discontinued in 2024 and brought back this year in response to consumer requests.

It is not the only recent case in which the return of a past product has become a hit. Captain Q, a product from Lotte Chilsung Beverage first released in 1980 and discontinued in 2015, was also relaunched this month, 11 years later. All 12,000 limited-edition sets of the “Captain Q Treasure Chest” sold out in a day. The product also sold 10,000 individual units at CU, while 80% of the stock delivered to E-Mart was gone within two days of its launch. At GS25, 99% of the delivered stock was sold. From October 12 to 28, searches for it on the “Our Neighborhood GS” app reached 600,000.

Captain Q, discontinued in 2015 and relaunched 11 years later. Lotte Chilsung Beverage

Nongshim Ramyeon, first released by Nongshim in 1975 and later discontinued, also returned last year, recording cumulative sales of 26 million packs. Samyang Foods’ Samyang 1963, a modern reinterpretation of the company’s Samyang Ramyeon made with beef tallow in 1963, was released in November last year and had sold 21.8 million packs by September.

The restaurant industry is also using the strategy of bringing back popular menu items from the past. Mom’s Touch relaunched its Ham and Cheese Fillet Burger, discontinued in 2022. The chain had earlier brought back its Jalapeño Whole Chicken Burger, and extended its sales period by two weeks in response to customer enthusiasm. Burger King sold 3 million Long Chicken Burgers, relaunched in June, by October 28. Lotteria also sold its Squid Alive Burger, first released in 2004 and discontinued in 2017, for limited periods in the summers of 2024 and 2025, selling 1.5 million burgers over two months each time.

Industry sources see the strategy as a way to secure sales while taking on less risk during an economic downturn. Because companies can immediately target consumers who remember the products, they can reduce the marketing costs required to introduce a new product from scratch. It can also offer younger consumers an experience they have not had before, creating an effect similar to launching a new product.

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