“About 100 won a cup” — Korea’s comeback of the ‘people’s coffee’ (coffee mix)
Creatrip Team
24 days ago
Instant coffee mixes (coffee mix) have returned to the top 15 best-selling items in large Korean supermarkets for the first time in five years, driven by prolonged high prices. From January to June this year, powdered instant coffee ranked 15th in sales across Emart stores. Sales of Namyang’s coffee mix brands rose about 15% year‑on‑year. Consumers are choosing coffee mix because stick packages cost roughly 100–200 won each—much cheaper than low‑cost coffee chains (1000–2000 won) and capsule beans. Producers raised wholesale prices last year due to global bean cost increases, but overall affordability has pushed instant coffee back as a value choice amid economic uncertainty.
