Convenience-Store Freezers Became Dessert Destinations: Why 500,000 Hanjeongseon Rice Cakes Sold
The longest line in a Korean convenience store is now at the freezer. GS25's Hanjeongseon Yogurt Chapssaltteok passed 500,000 units in 17 days, and on the app it sells out almost as soon as it appears.
The day Hanjeongseon hit the shelves
Hanjeongseon is a chapssaltteok (sticky rice cake) dessert brand that made its name in Seongsu-dong. GS25 turned its signature yogurt-cream version into a frozen product on Sept. 3.
Before the official launch, 200 units each went on sale at a Gangnam store and Incheon Airport on Aug. 28. All 400 vanished early, and foreign shoppers at the airport bought some too.
A first-come race on the app
On GS25's 'Uri-dongne GS' app it keeps selling out, turning into a first-come online scramble. In under a month it was No. 1 in GS25's ice cream category.
Cumulative sales passed 500,000 units as of Sept. 20.
The freezer is on fire
It is not just rice cakes. GS25's sales of rice-cake products rose 312.6% from Jan. 1 to Sept. 20.
Emart24's frozen dessert sales rose 72% in the same stretch, and its 'Ice Sweet Potato Matang' hit No. 1 in frozen food right after launch.
Ice cream shaped like a carrot
CU's 'hyper-realism' ice creams that look like carrots, triangle kimbap and potatoes saw sales jump 107.7% in January to September. 7-Eleven's Japanese dessert 'Ohayo Brulee Milk' sold 350,000 units in 40 days.
7-Eleven's ice dessert sales are up 86% this year.
Why frozen?
An Emart24 official said, "As more customers look for new textures and unusual desserts, convenience-store desserts are expanding from chilled to frozen."
Longer shelf life also means stores throw away less, which helps explain the boom.
Sources & context
2026-10-19T00:16:28.780Z
Financial News (Sept. 23, 2026) ↗Financial News (Sept. 3, 2026) ↗Emart24 frozen desserts (ice sweet potato matang, mochi). Photo: Emart24
GS25's Hanjeongseon Yogurt Chapssaltteok. Photo: GS25