Koreans go all-in on breakfast

/Courtesy of CU

By Rachel Lee

More Koreans appear to be eating breakfast as part of their daily routine.

According to CU, the country’s biggest convenience store chain, sales of ready-made meals between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. have been rising steadily over the last two years. Ready-made products include sandwiches and dried seaweed rolls.

In 2012, sales in the morning time-slot made up about 18.3 percent of total sales. Last year, they jumped 2.7 percent.

“More people are taking control of their health and have started to get into the habit of eating breakfast,” a company spokesman said.

“Of our customers who eat breakfast, about 52.6 percent are male and the rest are female. Almost one-third are in their 20s, indicating that students and office workers have breakfast at a nearby store on the way to school and work.

“Thanks to the health trend in this country, the ready-meal food market is worth up to 1 trillion won. So we are focusing on developing high-quality products at reasonable prices.”