Amid South Korea’s rising consumer prices and increasing interest for budget meals, sales of lunch boxes at convenience stores are growing, industry data showed Wednesday. 

According to BGF Retail, operator of the country’s convenience store chain CU, the sales of lunch boxes at CU stores surpassed that of instant cup noodles last year for the first time, recording 52.1 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively.

From January to April this year, sales of lunch boxes at CU stores hit 53.7 percent, making 19.5 percent increase on-year. Sales of instant cup noodle was at 46.3 percent. 

An average lunch box containing 3-4 side dishes, rice and soup is priced at 3,500 won ($3.2). Expensive ones such as containing broiled eels are priced at 19,000 won. 

South Korea’s lunch box market is expected to make 350 billion won of sales by year-end, industry sources said.

Other convenience store chains such as GS25 and 7-Eleven also saw their revenues from selling lunch boxes jump by 177 percent and 152 percent on-year, respectively. 

Industry insiders said popularity of budget lunch boxes began in 2016, when the three major convenience stores released lunch boxes named after celebrities such as star chef Baek Jong-won, actress Kim Hye-ja and idol singer Hyeri. 

Reasonable price and a variety of options also made it possible to gain popularity in just several years. 

“With ongoing popularity and consumer expectations for lunch boxes at convenience stores, more convenience stores will strive to come up with creative menu and variations by using local specialties and seasonal ingredients,” said BGF Retail official. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)