South Korean convenience stores sell an unusually wide range of goods and services, from single malt whiskies and $800 French wines to 24K gold bars, televisions, refill stations, and dine-in instant noodle bars with over 200 ramyon varieties. Customers can pick up packages, wash and dry clothes, or sign up for debit cards. The stores specialize in "instant-izing" food, converting nearly every dish into packaged meals such as spaghetti, udon, and squeezable fried rice. The convenience-store food market generates roughly $25 billion and introduces up to 70 new food items weekly, reflecting rapidly shifting national tastes.
In many parts of the world, convenience stores are the shops of last resort: cigarettes, sodas and laundry detergent. But in South Korea, you might find single malt whiskies, $800 French wines, 24K gold bars, shampoo and conditioner refill stations, televisions or a dine-in instant noodle bar with more than 200 varieties of ramyon. A customer might be able to pick up a package, wash and dry their clothes, or sign up for a new debit card.
The stores are best known for their numerous feats of "instant-izing" food, a process in which nearly every conceivable dish is turned into a packaged meal: spaghetti, Japanese udon, fried rice that you squeeze out of a tube. These have turned convenience stores into a $25-billion industry in South Korea and those food products are churned out at a staggering pace: up to 70 new food items hit the shelves each week, effectively offering a live feed of South Korean tastes.
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