Convenience store chain CU said on the 15th that cumulative sales of its "get Morning Mini Gimbap" surpassed 4 million units in 10 months. CU launched the get Morning brand in January this year around the concept of a quick breakfast, with products including mini gimbap, muffins, sandwiches and porridge.
Morning sales of key products have risen since the brand's debut. Gimbap's share of CU's sales during the morning hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. climbed to 21.7% last month from 18.6% in September last year.
Foreign tourists bought more than 100,000 mini gimbap packs, the company said. By nationality, buyers from China were the most numerous, followed by Japan, the United States and Taiwan.
By age group, consumers in their 20s accounted for the largest share of sales at 32.1%, followed by those in their 30s at 22.2% and those in their 40s at 21.9%. Sales at stores near university campuses, where customers in their 20s are concentrated, jumped 18-fold from the early days of the product's launch, the steepest growth among all store locations.
Citing demand for quick breakfasts at convenience stores, CU on the previous day released "Tuna and Richam Half-and-Half Mini Gimbap," which combines two of its most popular fillings. "The get Morning Mini Gimbap has drawn strong interest as the breakfast trend converges with a broader shift toward lighter meals," an official at BGF Retail said.