Korea · 2026 week 44 (10.26 - 11.01) · 22 entries
Checked through Oct 26: "Cheaper than gimbap" burger discount war — Burger King Whopper Jr. ₩2,900, McDonald's Big Arch ₩3,000 off on Baemin (Korea Economic Daily 2026.10.26), Gimcheon Gimbap Festival draws 160,000 in three days — winner "pepper steak gimbap" heads to CU on the 27th, Captain Q stock searches hit 300,000 — 15% of all 7-Eleven app stock lookups; single bottles at ₩9,900 since the 21st stand out. All 22 entries are below, each with when it started and the numbers behind it.
According to News1 (Oct 27), Shinsegae Food’s No Brand Burger will launch the ‘Real Bibimbap Burger’, which turns bibimbap (Korean mixed rice bowl) into a burger, on the 30th. It has a crispy fried bibimbap patty, a flame-grilled patty and a fried egg. The bun is a rice brioche made with Garu-ssal (powdered rice), and the sauce is a gim (seaweed) pesto. It’s timed for Shinsegae Group’s SSG Day. From the 30th through Nov 28, it’s running a pop-up with Jeju Air at its Seongsu Lab store. The first 1,000 foreign customers who buy a set at the Seongsu Lab, Hongdae, Busan Gwangbok, Seomyeon or Shinjeju stores get a travel kit. The price isn’t in the article.
According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 26), Burger King is selling the Whopper Jr. and Bulgogi Whopper Jr. at ₩2,900 instead of ₩5,000 through the 8th of next month, the Cheese Whopper Jr. at ₩3,200 and the Long Chicken Burger at ₩3,500 (single items). The average price of a roll of gimbap in September was ₩3,923 (Chamgaga). Last year's sales were ₩1.431 trillion for McDonald's (+14.5%) and ₩1.1189 trillion for Lotte GRS (+12.4%). According to Economic Review (Oct 26), Baemin (Korea's top delivery app) is taking ₩3,000 off McDonald's "Big Arch" on a first-come basis through Nov 1.
According to Edaily (Oct 25), Paris Baguette's chewy chocolate churro (₩2,900), launched Sept 2, sold about 1.5 million in its first month and about 3.8 million cumulatively as of Oct 18. The company says one sells 'every two seconds.' On social media it picked up the nickname 'Jang Won-young churro,' and dipping it in whipped cream or vanilla ice cream has caught on. A store the paper visited in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul had empty shelves, and the owner said they sell out 'as soon as they come out.'
According to the Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 24), Lotte Department Store's Jamsil branch sold 500% more rice-cake desserts in September than a year earlier, and its main store 460% more. Lotte's second 'Rice Cake Pilgrimage' event (Oct 9–15) drew 15,000 buyers. Kurly's rice cake and hangwa sales roughly doubled in June–August, with Changeok's pumpkin injeolmi up 336% to top its rice-cake ranking. Godiva's mochi at Lotte World Mall is limited to 150 a day and the waitlist closes around 6 a.m.; Naver searches hit 83,300 in the past month. GS25's Hanjeongseon yogurt glutinous rice cake has passed 700,000 sold, and a pistachio follow-up is on a 20,000-unit preorder.
According to Herald Economy and Pointe Economy (Oct 22), McDonald's Korea launches its large burger "Big Arch" on the 22nd. It costs ₩12,400 à la carte, ₩13,900 as a set and ₩13,000 as a lunchtime McLunch set, overtaking the ₩9,300 Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese as the most expensive McDonald's burger. It uses two 113g pure-beef patties (226g of patty alone), three slices of white cheddar and a 4.5-inch bun, and is McDonald's Korea's first item with crispy onions. Europe uses poppy seeds on the bun, but Korea swapped them for chia seeds. First launched in Portugal in July 2024, it is sold in 20 countries as of October, and Korea is the second Asian market after Taiwan. It was the No. 1 large burger in France, and in the UK and Ireland it went from limited to regular menu. In Korea it will start as a limited item, with regular status decided by response. According to NewDaily (Oct 22), Burger King launched a ₩10,700 "Black Truffle Cheese Burger" on the 14th, while Shinsegae Food's No Brand Burger "NBB Hook" and "NBB Punch" (₩4,900 each), launched on the 15th, sold about 15,000 a day on average, passing 100,000 cumulative in a week and taking the top two sales spots. Big Arch prices are as reported by the media; we could not confirm them on McDonald's official page.
According to Sports Seoul (Oct 21), Starbucks Korea starts selling Christmas-season drinks, food and merchandise from the 22nd and kicks off its year-end "Winter e-Frequency" promotion. Back are the Toffee Nut Latte, sold more than 40 million cups since its 2002 Korean launch, the Winter Scotch Vanilla Latte and the non-alcoholic Classic Vin Chaud Hibiscus Tea, plus a new Apricot Joyful Medley Tea Latte, a winter take on a summer drink. Food includes a Nutella moist fresh-cream cake, a Nutella baguette salt bread, a Rudolph cookie cheesecake and snowman macarons. Seven food items are 20% off through the 25th, and through the 28th Rewards members get up to three extra Stars for buying four season drinks. The e-Frequency runs to December 31: buy 17 handcrafted drinks including three mission drinks to reserve one of a Lexon "Mino T" portable speaker, a corduroy backpack, a canvas tote or a Moleskine 2027 planner (Newsis, Edaily Oct 15). New this time is a cancellation waitlist: sign up at 7 a.m. and you're notified at 3 p.m. if canceled stock frees up. According to News1 (Oct 15), it's the first such event in five months, and per Segye Ilbo (Oct 15) Starbucks skipped its summer e-Frequency in July.
According to News1 (Oct 27), 7-Eleven has launched the Japanese dessert ‘Toraku Crème Brûlée Pudding’ as an exclusive direct import in Korea. It’s a Hokkaido fresh-cream custard pudding with caramel topping and brown sugar powder packed separately, to sprinkle on just before eating. The ‘Toraku Royal Custard Pudding’ released in June sold more than 300,000 units. 7-Eleven’s dessert sales for January–September rose 67% from a year earlier. Cumulative sales of its roughly 260 globally sourced products over the past three years have topped 20 million units.
According to News1 (Oct 27), ‘Sumgyeol Tong Sikppang’, a private-label loaf sold jointly by Lotte Mart, Lotte Super and 7-Eleven, has sold 1 million units in 193 days since launch. That’s more than 5,180 a day on average, or about one every 17 seconds. Lotte Mart and Lotte Super sold about 670,000 and 7-Eleven about 330,000. It’s No. 1 in cumulative sales among all loaves at Lotte Mart and Lotte Super, at about 3.5 times the leading mass-market loaf. Instead of slicing it with a knife, you tear the whole loaf apart. It’s 10% off from the 29th through Nov 11.
According to a News1 exclusive (Oct 26), AE Brand Korea, an importer under Asahi Group, plans to stop selling major imported beers including Pilsner Urquell and Kozel in Korea after Dec 31. The industry sees weak sales as a factor. The company’s last public audit report (2022) shows revenue of ₩26.4 billion and an operating loss of ₩5.1 billion. Sales by brand haven’t been disclosed.
According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 24), whisky made up 16.3% of E-mart's liquor sales in January–September, 0.4 points ahead of soju (15.9%) — the first time whisky alone has overtaken soju. Whisky sales rose 11.1% and soju 2.0% over the period. In convenience stores, GS25 is selling a third batch of 50,000 bottles of Teacher's at around ₩10,000; the sell-out of the first two batches was a figure reported in March.
According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 25), CU's 'get Morning mini gimbap,' launched in January, passed 4 million sold as of Oct 15, and the share of CU gimbap sales made between 5 and 9 a.m. rose from 18.6% last September to 21.7% this September. 7-Eleven's three 'All New Maki' rolls, out in late August, passed 300,000 in about six weeks (crispy sausage maki ₩2,100). GS25's Buldak cheese omelet gimbap (Sept 16) sold 500,000 in a month, and GS25 gimbap sales were up 36.2% year on year for Oct 1–15.
According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 25), CU launched 'pizza jeolpyeon' (₩3,800) on the 8th as a permanent item — a flat rice cake topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni. Sometrend data cited by CU shows social-media mentions of 'pizza seolgi' went from under 100 in April to about 2,000 in August and over 10,000 in September. CU's Dubai chewy glutinous rice cake sold about 1.1 million in last year's fourth quarter and about 2.8 million in total; GS25 has a Dubai castella version. Shinsegae Food's butter rice cake is ₩10,980 for six.
According to Kyongbuk Ilbo (Oct 25), up to 160,000 people (Gimcheon City estimate) visited the Gimcheon Gimbap Festival over three days, Oct 23-25. CU launches the contest-winning "Chinese-style pepper steak gimbap" on the 27th. The winners of the first two festivals each sold 500,000 cumulative at convenience stores. GS25's Buldak Cheese Omelet Gimbap sold 500,000 in one month.
According to Newsquest (10.23), SPC Samlip launched four burgers made with Seongsu-dong craft burger brand Zesty Saloon in convenience stores nationwide on the 23rd. They rework Zesty Saloon's signature menu for packaged food: the 'Zesty 2X Cheese Burger' with layers of cheese and a beef patty, the 'Zesty Chipotle Burger' with spicy chipotle sauce, the 'Zesty Garlic Ranch Burger' with garlic ranch sauce, and the 'Zesty Egg & Hash Burger' with egg and hash brown. They use a glazed bun and beef patty. Zesty Saloon won awards at the 2026 Korea Burger Championship and the World Burger Championship. The article gives neither prices nor which convenience-store chains carry them.
According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 24), searches for Captain Q stock in the 7-Eleven app passed 300,000 on Oct 9–16, 15% of all stock-finder searches. 7-Eleven has sold single 360ml, 35% bottles at ₩9,900 since the 21st. The 12,000 treasure-box sets released on the 14th sold out in a day; 1,980 of them held a pure-silver coin. Asia Economy (Oct 25) reported posts on secondhand apps offering ₩50,000 for the coin alone.
According to Korea Economic Daily and Yonhap (Oct 22), CU launched Japanese premium cookie brand Langrie's "Langrie Salt Milk Sand" (₩5,000) as an industry exclusive. It's a langue de chat — thin cookies sandwiching cream — known as a souvenir Koreans often bring back from Japan. On the 28th, "Langrie Choco Cream Sand" and "Langrie Uji Matcha Sand" made with Uji matcha join the lineup. CU is also bringing in five items from Belgian royal-warrant biscuit brand Jules Destrooper (₩7,700 each) — Butter Waffles and Butter Waffles Choco on the 28th, then Original Waffles and Crisp & Cream vanilla and chocolate on the 4th of next month — with a mix-and-match 2+1 across all five throughout November. Meiji's "Takenoko no Sato" chocolate snack (₩4,500), launched on the 14th, sold 30,000 in a week to rank fifth in sales among 300-plus biscuits, and last year's limited 160,000 "Hokkaido soufflé pudding" sold out within a month. CU said it is targeting Pepero Day, the college entrance exam and year-end gift demand.
According to an exclusive report by Bridge Economy (Oct 22), emart24 is developing collaboration products with Jeon Eun-seul, grand-prize winner of the National Museum of Korea costume contest, and webtoon artist Lee Dae-yang (Dr. Ber), who took the top prize. Jeon was a favorite from the finals with a carp costume recreating a white-porcelain carp-shaped water dropper, and after winning appeared on "You Quiz on the Block" and elsewhere. Lee drew attention with a costume resembling the gilt-bronze pensive Bodhisattva. Product and merch ideas are still being drawn up, with release planned for mid-next month, and an Social media comment event asking for "products you'd like to see as relics" runs through the 27th. emart24 said it is also preparing merch introducing relics like the carp-shaped water dropper and the pensive Bodhisattva. According to the same article, CU's tourist items have grown to more than 110, GS25 will expand its "K-Station" displays in tourist areas to 200 stores this year, and 7-Eleven will expand tourist-specialty stores to 250 this month. Product lineup and prices have not been announced.
According to Newsis (Oct 21), GS25's steamed-bun sales on Oct 15–19 rose 75.2% from the same weekdays the week before, as morning lows fell below 10°C. On the 21st GS25 launched two exclusive buns made with the character Anpanman, an "Anpanman chestnut red-bean bun" and a "Currypanman curry bun," at 1,900 won each or 5,700 won for a 3-pack. On the 22nd five shelf-stable Anpanman bakery items follow, including a Shokupanman cream sandwich and a Baikinman deep chocolate pie (2,400 won each). Each collab item holds one of 100 random stickers, and 3-packs paid with GS Pay are buy-one-get-one through the 31st. Single buns such as Samlip's classic red-bean bun now come individually wrapped without a tray and can be microwaved in the pack.
According to an exclusive by Newspim (Oct 21), Suntory's Kaku Highball cans go on limited sale at CU, GS25, 7-Eleven and Emart24 from Nov 4. It is the first time Suntory officially brings the cans through Korean retail, and it is a test sale to gauge each channel before a full launch next year. 7-Eleven has sent franchisees a notice titled "Kaku Highball 2-SKU test operation," with pre-orders on the 26th and main orders from 9:30 a.m. on Nov 3, capped at six per product per store. The two sizes are 350ml (4,500 won) and 500ml (5,500 won); all four chains charge the same and run bundles of four 350ml cans for 13,000 won and three 500ml cans for 12,900 won. Suntory allocates different volumes per chain, so when and how many each store actually gets may vary.
IndustryNews (Oct 19) reported that convenience chain emart24 is releasing seven ready meals and desserts this month using the IP of the webtoon 'The Remarried Empress.' The lineup: Mushroom Cream Pasta (₩4,300), Secret Twist Egg Sandwich (₩4,200), Royal Milk Tea Cup (₩2,000), White-Chocolate-Coated Old-Fashioned Donut (₩2,400), Salted Caramel Mochi Roll (₩3,900), Macarons, 2-pack (₩2,900) and Imperial Chocolate Crepe Cake (₩3,600). Paying with Hyundai Card, Woori Card or KakaoPay gets 30% off through Oct 31. A themed pop-up zone runs at emart24's 'Trend Lab Seongsu' store through Nov 16. It is emart24's first IP collaboration since signing an agreement with the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) in July.
According to Kyunghyang Shinmun (Oct 13), convenience stores pulled their winter season forward by up to a month this year and widened it from roasted sweet potatoes, fish cakes and steamed buns to cold-weather clothing such as light padded jackets. emart24 sold seven items such as tights and leggings from September 18, expanded winter clothing and accessories to 20 items in October and added a ₩34,900 light padded jacket. It will release an exclusive steamed bun at the end of the month. CU launched 19 clothing items including a light padded jacket (₩39,900), fleece jacket (₩22,900) and windbreaker (₩27,900), and from October 1 to 7 its hand-warmer sales rose 400.3% from the week before, stockings 74.8%, fish cakes 69.8% and roasted sweet potatoes 56.1%. GS25 started selling fish cakes about two weeks earlier than last year; on days averaging under 15°C it sold 74% more than on days of 15°C or above, and 12 times more than on days above 20°C. 7-Eleven started roasted sweet potatoes on September 14, about eight days earlier than last year. The same article noted September's daily temperature range was 10.3°C, 0.5°C wider than usual, and cited the industry view that stores turned to winter goods after August convenience-store sales grew only 0.8%. According to Yonhap (Oct 9), GS25's tights sales from the 1st to the 7th rose 1,072.7% and hand warmers 1,033.7%. According to Choice Economy (Oct 13), Samlip announced on the 13th 20 new products with actor Gong Myoung as its new model, including taco, basil cheese and brown-sugar red-bean buns plus spicy ones like Buldak, and emart24 is preparing a steamed bun with Samlip. Prices and launch dates weren't in the article. According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 18), CU launched corn pie and apple pie (₩2,000 each) cooked in in-store fryers with a 2+1 deal this month, and after adding hot breads like heated and wood-fired sandwiches last month, related sales rose 117.3%. 7-Eleven will sell roasted sweet potatoes from the new domestic variety Hopungmi through November, then switch in December to Beniharuka aged about three months. According to CNB Journal (Oct 22), CU has been selling four freshly steamed buns — red bean, sweet potato, vegetable and pizza — from in-store bun warmers since the 6th.
According to Yonhap News (Oct 26), GS25 launches a frozen "Sulbing Pizza Seolgi" (pizza toppings on steamed white rice cake) on the 26th and takes limited pre-orders of 5,000 on the Wooridongne GS app through the 31st. Nationwide store sales start Nov 5. CU released a "Mochi Pave Chocolate Matcha" on the 22nd; CU rice cake sales rose 96.5% in Jan-Sept and 158.9% in Oct 1-22, after the "Raw Chocolate Mochi" came out. 7-Eleven releases "pumpkin injeolmi rice cake" and "black sesame rice cake" on the 29th. 7-Eleven rice cake sales rose 62% in Jan-Sept, and foreigners' rice cake sales rose 80%.
Sources · 뉴스1 노Brand 진짜 Bibimbap Burgers (2026.10.27) · 뉴스1 세븐일레븐 토라쿠 Kream브륄레Pudding (2026.10.27) · 뉴스1 숨결통Bread loaf 1M units (2026.10.27) · 뉴스1 필스너 우르켈·코젤 Sales ending (2026.10.26) · 연합뉴스 Convenience store Rice cakes 3파전 (2026.10.26) · 한국경제 Burgers Discount전 (2026.10.26) · 경북일보 김천GimbapFestival 160,000 (2026.10.25) · Herald Economy: convenience-store gimbap rice wars, Sikmulwon Gimbap 100,000 sold (2026.10.22) · The Report: Gimcheon Gimbap Festival QR ordering (2026.10.23) · Newsquest: SPC Samlip x Zesty Saloon 4 burgers (2026.10.23) · Asia Economy: Captain Q treasure box sold out (2026.10.23) · Newsis: Captain Q factory price KRW 9,900 (2026.10.23) · MBC: returning Captain Q sells out (2026.10.23) · Financial News: rice-cake open-run, Hanjeongseon 398 groups (2026.10.22) · Herald Economy: packaged rice-cake spending +31.2%, under-20s +45.5% (2026.10.22) · Hankyung: mochi open-runs at Lotte World Mall (2026.10.22) · Newsis: open-run for Knotted donut chapssaltteok (2026.10.22) · Herald Economy: McDonald's Big Arch tasting and prices (2026.10.22) · Pointe Economy: Big Arch lands in Korea (2026.10.22) · NewDaily: No Brand Burger sells 100,000 in a week (2026.10.22) · CNB Journal: Mom's Touch Hu Deok-juk Chef Collection 2nd edition (2026.10.22) · Korea Economic Daily: CU's Japanese and Belgian imported snacks (2026.10.22) · Yonhap: CU's three langue de chat cookies (2026.10.22) · Bridge Economy: emart24 collab with National Museum costume contest winners (2026.10.22) · CNB Journal: convenience-store steamed-bun and winter-clothing sales (2026.10.22) · Sports Seoul: Starbucks Christmas season and Winter e-Frequency (2026.10.21) · Dong-A Ilbo: Starbucks winter e-Frequency starts today (2026.10.21) · The Tracker: Captain Q 360ml at 7-Eleven for ₩9,900 (2026.10.21) · Newsis GS25 steamed-bun sales +75.2%, Anpanman buns (2026.10.21) · Newspim Kaku Highball at four convenience chains (2026.10.21) · IT Biz News Mafia potato stick orders paused (2026.10.20) · JobPost Mafia potato stick short supply (2026.10.20) · Korea Economic Daily Captain Q 15% of stock searches (2026.10.20) · Maeil Business rice-cake craze, 243 groups waiting at Hanjeongseon (2026.10.20) · Newsis 7-Eleven foreign customers' chicken sales (2026.10.20) · Asia Economy CU Smart Cooker (2026.10.20) · Asia Economy: Sung Si-kyung bibimbap 500,000 sold, Honey Cabbage Spicy Pork Bibimbap (2026.10.19) · News1: 7-Eleven Sikyung pick bibimbap, delivery sales +65% (2026.10.19) · Yonhap: McDonald's Big Arch launches on the 22nd (2026.10.19) · E-Today: CU Truffle Jamón Stick No. 1 snack (2026.10.18) · Asia Economy: Truffle Jamón series 1.5M sold (2026.10.18) · Segye Ilbo: Captain Q, Taegeukdang breads and convenience-store newtro (2026.10.18) · Segye Ilbo: convenience-store winter hot snacks, CU pies (2026.10.18) · JoongAng Ilbo: Captain Q sell-out and the retro wave (2026.10.17) · News1: Starbucks e-Frequency returns after 5 months (2026.10.15) · Newsis: Starbucks winter e-Frequency cancellation waitlist (2026.10.15) · Edaily: Starbucks frequency freebies (2026.10.15) · Segye Ilbo: coffee chains' merch competition (2026.10.15) · Financial News: text-hip and GS25 Minumsa bread (2026.10.14) · Korea Economic Daily: emart24 Ponny bread round 3 (2026.10.14) · Maeil Ilbo: Coupang Rocket Fresh gourmet hall (2026.10.14) · Digital Daily: convenience-store "seasonal-core" (2026.10.13) · Choice Economy: Samlip's 20 steamed buns (2026.10.13) · Kyunghyang Shinmun: convenience stores pull winter season a month forward (2026.10.13) · Asia Economy: CU Song Candy round 3 and RESCENE bread 1 million (2026.10.13) · Kookmin Ilbo: convenience-store rice-cake dessert war (2026.10.12) · The Tracker: convenience-store frozen desserts (2026.10.12) · Newsis: CU gochu japchae gimbap (2026.10.11) · Singlelist GS25 Taegeukdang bread (2026.10.12) · Asia Economy Bokdamju 200,000 bottles and Jeultomak (2026.10.11) · Segye Ilbo convenience-store world liquor race (2026.10.11) · Edaily what made CU's RESCENE bread a hit (2026.10.11) · Yonhap: convenience-store hand warmers and tights (2026.10.09) · Kyeonggi Ilbo: RESCENE bread (2026.10.04)
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