Have you ever heard of "salt bread'? Beginning in 2017 and continuing through 2018, the dessert craze began to blow up in Korea. The craze meant buying delicious and exotic desserts that express your individual personality or emotions via SNS, mindless of the price and quantity. Donuts filled with sweat cream or a Croffle, a combination of waffles and croissants, were the leaders in the dessert craze. In recent years, however, salt bread is driving the dessert trend. It captivates consumers with its chewy texture. The so-called ‘go-jjan-go-jjan,’ (a newly coined word that is repeatedly played after the first letter of the Korean word, "savory and salty.") combines the rich and savory flavor of butter with the bitter taste of salt.

▲ The Salt Bread That's Popular These Days (Photo from The Dankook Herald)

   Former golfer Park Se-ri made an appearance on the famous TV program ’Home Alone(MBC)’, and made headlines looking for salt bread. During the program, she was seen shopping for salt bread while wandering around various bakeries. These scenes clearly highlighted the new trend of salt bread. More than 150,000 photos with the hashtag #saltbread have been posted on SNS, and people make lists of bakeries that make it and share them with each other. Salt bread is a hit product in places that many young people visit, such as Seongsu-dong and Yeonnam-dong in Seoul. In addition, it is gaining popularity thanks to the young generation’s patience with long queues. Many young people are desperately looking for the most mouthwatering salt bread and are prepared to wait in long lines to get it. Salt bread, which originated in Japan is a plump crescent-shaped bread baked with more than twice the butter content of other bread and is sprinkled with salt on top. The charm of this bread is its “plainness.” Even though the name contains salt, the strength of the product is that it is full of savory butter flavor without being too salty or sweet. Due to this fact, it can be easily enjoyed by people of all ages. In South Korea, salt bread has been reinterpreted to incorporate Korean style by adding not only red bean paste and butter but various fillings such as chocolate and cheese.

   More recently, in addition to salt bread, unique desserts are gaining popularity. Following “Macaroons”, which were the first sensation to appear in the dessert market, and the Croffle (croissant + waffles), bagels, and donuts are in vogue. There is also a trend combining the desserts above with Korean flare. The first dessert to do this was macarons. Macarons have become popular in South Korea, especially in the form of "fat carons," which are bursting with all kinds of ingredients such as whole strawberries and mochis. In addition, the variety of flavors, ranging from black sesame and ‘Injeolmi’ to yellow cheese-flavored macarons have led to whole commercial snacks. There are also ‘Samgye-tang’ macarons that contain South Korea's unique, ‘Chobok’. The next combined dessert to appear is the Croffle. During the COVID-19 era, it was popular to stay at home and eat food made with a household waffle machine. Instead of baking croissant dough, it became a popular trend to press it into a waffle machine. The Croffle has the charm of being crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Finally, let’s take a look at donuts. Donuts are especially popular in South Korea. The donut is an American food item popular in their culture and often appears in the American animation series ‘The Simpsons’ and American dramas. Due to their increased popularity in South Korea, they have quickly become known as "dessert to eat in line," Consumers will line up at donut specially shops to be sure they get access to the sweet treats before the shops run out of stock.

▲ ‘Samgye-tang’ macarons that contain South Korea's unique, ‘Chobok.' (Photo from The Dankook Herald)

   Experts suggest that the little sense of accomplishment gained from experiential consumption affects the interest in dessert consumerism of the MZ generations. This generation is highlighting on social media their visits to famous as a sort of treasure hunt for the sought-after items instead of just the pure pleasure of eating the delicious treats. They find must-visit restaurants and wait outside before it opens to be the first in. We call this trend ‘Open-Run.’ This is a kind of experiential consumption that stems from the satisfaction that they made an effort to get there before other people did. The reason why Open-Run consumption is trending is due to the young generations’ taste for scarce items of value. It is an unusual experience for them to wait in line to consume their desires, and it offers a rare sense of accomplishment that they are proud to boast about on social media or share with their acquaintances. Due to the trend, a large number of businessmen are trying to attract the MZ generation with social media posts trying to portray their shops as ‘hot spots, which are popular places on social media. Some stores even go out of their way to offer a distinguishable atmosphere.

▲ A Photo of Crispy Croffle (Photo from The Dankook Herald)

   New desserts show up out of nowhere and set an exciting trend for younger generations. Companies focus on the desires of these young generations to, share their special experiences through social media, and try to attract them by reflecting popular trends in their marketing strategy. So what do you think will be the next dessert trend?