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| Orion's "Choco Pie" |
By Park Si-soo
Orion's long-running product "Choco Pie" has become the nation's most consumed confectionary product with quarterly sales reaching 100 billion won ($91.7 million).
Its January-March sales reached 112 billion won on strong demand in China, Russia and Vietnam, the Seoul-based confectioner said Tuesday.
Nearly half of sales or 55 billion won came in China, followed by Korea with 24 billion won, Vietnam with 23 billion won and Russia with 10 billion won, it said.
"We have tried to appeal to customers with localized marketing campaigns. And it has worked," an Orion spokesman said. "We will try harder to make Choco Pie popular in many other countries."
Experts called it a "smash hit," because normally confectionary products with annual sales of 100 billion won are considered a big success. They said only a handful of products have reached that threshold in Korea.
Orion launched the chocolate-covered cake with marshmallow cream in 1974. Lotte Confectionary launched a copycat product with the same name in 1978. The rival firms engage in fierce competition in the confectionary market here.
Choco Pie's popularity has also spilled over into North Korea. Smuggled Choco Pies via China and the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaesung are reportedly traded on the black market there.
Smuggling of Choco Pies into the destitute state is so rampant that authorities there have reportedly launched a sweeping crackdown on smugglers and consumers.
Analysts say Choco Pie's overseas sales will continue to increase for a while thanks to China. Last year, it was selected as one of the most popular Korean products in China.
"There is still room for Orion Choco Pie to grow in China," said Park Chan-eun, an analyst at IBK Investment and Securities, citing that China's per capital consumption of confectionary products is only 15 percent of Japan and 43 percent of Korea. "Chinese people's spending on confectionary goods will continue to increase."
To that end, Orion is making a greater effort with major wholesalers in China, the spokesman said.
At the current pace, Choco Pie's accumulated sales are expected to reach 400 billion won by the end of the year, up from 383 billion won in 2014, according to the spokesman.
It will account for nearly 20 percent of Orion's sales from its confectionary business, which was approximately 2 trillion won last year.
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