The heat from spicy restaurants in South Korea's university business districts is spreading rapidly to other popular business districts in the country and has y clogged the taste buds of young people in their 20s and 30s spicy unique.
The Korea Agriculture and Fisheries Food Distribution Corporation recently released a report summarizing changes and trends in the "most popular foods and dietary trends" in the Korean restaurant industry in the 2000s, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency on 16 January. in the last decade. This year, the most popular foods among Koreans are table sandwiches and brown sugar milk tea. In addition, in recent years, Chinese restaurants such as spicy hot pot and spicy hot pot, which have caused a worldwide trend of spiciness, are becoming the new boomers in Korea's most popular business districts with their "Chinese flavors".
According to a report on the website of the Mainichi Shimbun, statistics on the Korean restaurant industry in September this year showed that Gangnam, Hongdae and other places in Seoul were the most popular business districts in South Korea, and the prices of the stores were generally high. But over the past two years, Chinese restaurants and their branded chains, such as Spicy Hot and Black Sugar Milk Tea, have been on the rise. For example, the prices of stores near Hongik University subway station are among the highest in Korea, but there are six spicy restaurants near Exit 8 of the subway station. A local businessman said there are many Chinese restaurants on the street and all businesses are popular.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Food and the Korea Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Distribution Corporation previously released the Business Environment Outlook for the Recovery Industry in the Second Quarter of 2019, which showed that Chinese restaurants increased to 24,800 in the second quarter of this year, up more than 1,570 from the same period last year. The restaurant's Prosperity Outlook Index is also expected to show an upward trend in the third quarter of this year. According to Korean media, the emergence of Chinese restaurants over the years could be considered an "outstanding performance" in the restaurant industry, considering the slow growth of the country's overall restaurant industry.
Additionally, the registration of "spicy"-related brands is on the rise, with the number of Chinese spicy food chains with two to three branches increasing to more than 15. A staff member at the Chain Industry Association said that in the past, Chinese restaurants rarely developed the chain business model. However, as Chinese flavors such as hot pots and spicy foods have become more popular in South Korea, the number of cases of registration of Chinese food brands and chains has increased.