 |
| /Korea Times file |
From honey butter chips to fruit-flavored soju, sweet flavors are all the rage this year.
The level of buzz over related keywords confirms the trend.
SK Planet's social analysis system BINS 2.0's look at mentions of "sweet flavor" on social media from January to July shows they surged 135 percent from the same period last year.
"Dessert" was also mentioned 30,526 times, more than double last year's figure.
The most-mentioned related keyword with dessert was coffee, followed by chocolate, candy and ice cream. A new keyword to make the list is "macaron."
SK Planet attributed the "sweet flavor" craze to the popularity of "honey," after confectionery company Haitai's honey butter chips were a huge hit last year.
The level of buzz for "honey" has risen from 214,805 mentions in 2013 to 450,385 in 2014 and 656,127 in 2015.
Honey butter chips have been in hot demand since their release.
The demand for "sweets" is also linked to Koreans' high levels of stress.
Related keywords show people sought sweet snacks to relieve stress, fatigue and worries.
Mentions of the words stress, fatigue and concerns have also grown notably on social media this year.
![[INTERVIEW] Yim Si-wan went extra mile to portray legendary athlete in 'Road to Boston'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/fdd49ca391cf4ce785bd7136efd0bfa2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
