Isaac Toast sauce tops Incheon Airport duty-free bestseller list

Ahead of cosmetics and liquor

Isaac Toast's signature sauce ranked No. 1 on the overall best-products list of Airstar Duty Free, Korea JoongAng Daily reported Oct. 2.

Airstar Duty Free is the online shopping platform run by Incheon International Airport Corp. Its overall ranking spans cosmetics, fashion and liquor, according to Wikitree. In September, the sauce was the only food item in the platform's top eight. In June, it ranked first across all categories on Shinsegae Duty Free's online mall.

Not sold in Korean stores

The sauce is a duty-free-only product sold through Shinsegae Duty Free. It is not available at Korean convenience stores or supermarkets.

It went on sale in late April at Shinsegae Duty Free's Myeongdong store, Financial News reported. A late-May batch sold out in a day, and purchase limits followed. The company says it keeps the sauce off Korean shelves to protect its franchise owners' toast sales.

A taste to take home

Foreign tourists drive the demand. Visitors who try Isaac toast at shops in Myeongdong or Hongdae buy the sauce on the way home to recreate it.

The toast itself is familiar to first-timers: bread, egg, cabbage, ham and cheese, finished with a sweet sauce.

The jams are sold in Korea

Unlike the sauce, the fruit jams can be bought in Korea. From Jan. 26, Isaac Toast offered its jam line, led by kiwi jam, through 29CM's "29 Limited Order" promotion, News1 reported.

On Aug. 14, Isaac Toast said four jams, kiwi, peach, apple and strawberry, had launched on the Olive Young online mall, with same-day Today Dream delivery in some areas. It had earlier expanded sales to 29CM, Kurly and Shinsegae Duty Free.

Through its Sauce with You campaign, the company sets aside 100 won (about 7 cents) per bottle of sauce sold to fund meals for children at risk of going hungry.

Before you buy

The sauce is available only through duty-free channels such as Shinsegae Duty Free stores and its online mall.

The sauce may be treated as a liquid at security. According to ANA, liquids bought at departure-airport duty-free shops in Korea can be carried on if sealed, unopened, in a tamper-evident bag (STEB) with the receipt. Transit countries apply their own rules.