Korean Convenience Store Must-Tries This Winter: Strawberry Sandwiches, Red Hot Hoppang and Chain-Only Chocolate
The new items to look for at Korean convenience stores this winter are CU's fresh-strawberry whipped cream sandwiches, 7-Eleven's Red Hot hoppang (launching November 6) and instant roasted chestnuts, GS25's Anpanman buns, Emart24's QWER sandwiches and Premium Ghana chocolates in a different flavor at each chain. Several roll out in stages, and stock varies by store.
What's New at Korean Convenience Stores This Winter?
The first cold week changes a Korean convenience store. Steam fogs the glass of the bun warmer, a tray of sweet potatoes appears by the register, and the sandwich shelf turns pink. Korea's four big chains, CU, GS25, 7-Eleven and Emart24, use this season to launch limited runs and character tie-ins, so the shelves in November look different from the shelves in August. This guide covers only what is new. For the year-round staples, from triangle kimbap to late-night ramyeon, start with our Korean convenience store food guide.
| Item | Name on the pack | Chain | When and how |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberry Choco Whip Castella Sand | 딸기 초코 휩 카스텔라 샌드 | CU | November 6 to 20, Pocket CU app, 500 a day |
| Fruits Milk Whip Sand | 후르츠 우유 휩 샌드 | CU | From November 18 |
| Strawberry Milk Whip Sand | 딸기 우유 휩 샌드 | CU | Planned for December |
| Red Hot Vegetable and Red Hot Pizza Hoppang | 레드핫야채호빵, 레드핫피자호빵 | 7-Eleven | Launching November 6 |
| Instant roasted chestnuts | 즉석 군밤 | 7-Eleven | New this season, ten to a bag, about 300 won each |
| Anpanman chestnut red bean and curry hoppang | 호빵맨 밤단팥호빵, 카레빵맨 카레호빵 | GS25 | On sale since October 21, 1,900 won each |
| Premium Ghana shell chocolates | 프리미엄 가나 | All four, one flavor each | Seasonal limited run, announced November 4 |
| QWER collaboration sandwiches | QWER 콜라보 샌드위치 | Emart24 | Rolling out from November 4 |
Start with strawberry, because the first release is the hardest to get. CU is rolling out three fresh-strawberry whipped cream sandwiches from November 6. The first, the Strawberry Choco Whip Castella Sand, layers chocolate castella, chocolate whipped cream, chocolate chips and fresh strawberries. It sells through CU's Pocket CU app from November 6 to 20, first come, first served, at 500 a day. The Fruits Milk Whip Sand follows on November 18 with strawberry, orange and Shine Muscat grapes, and the Strawberry Milk Whip Sand is planned for December.
These are crustless dessert sandwiches built to show off the cut side, the kind you photograph before you eat. According to CU, its December-to-February strawberry sandwich sales rose 79.8 percent this year, and its Seuseuseu Strawberry Sandwich has passed one million sold. CU also plans fresh strawberry and Shine Muscat macarons and a strawberry chocolate cupcake, with limited quantities of the fruit desserts going to the app first this month.
Red Hot Hoppang, Roasted Chestnuts and Anpanman Buns
Hoppang is the soft steamed bun that Korean convenience stores keep warm through the cold months, and this year's new ones lean spicy. 7-Eleven launches two on November 6. The Red Hot Vegetable Hoppang mixes onion, cabbage, carrot, pork and sesame oil with a red hot sauce. The Red Hot Pizza Hoppang fills the bun with tomato ragu, cheese, ham and sweet corn, with some heat behind it. The chain says it is chasing the savory, slightly sweet kind of spice that has taken over from pure burn.
The same chain has added instant roasted chestnuts, the smell of winter street carts in a convenience-store bag. There are ten in a bag at about 300 won each, and the shells are scored so they peel without a fight.
At GS25, the bun warmer belongs to a cartoon. The chain teamed up with Anpanman, known in Korea as Hoppang-man, on two exclusive buns: a red bean bun with diced chestnut, and a Curry-bread-man bun filled with curry sauce, vegetables and pork. They cost 1,900 won each. Five shelf-stable bakery items joined them, including a cream sandwich and a deep chocolate pie themed on other characters from the series, and the collaboration products carry one of 100 random stickers, which is how a snack becomes a collection.
One Chocolate, a Different Flavor at Every Chain
If you like a small quest, this is the one to take on. Lotte Wellfood's Premium Ghana line has four new seasonal shell chocolates, and each sells only through its own group of stores. Koreans call this kind of hunt dojang-kkaegi, a word borrowed from martial arts for taking on one school after another.
- 7-Eleven: Creme Brulee, a milk shell with custard cream and crunchy caramel chips.
- CU: Salted Milk, a milk shell with salted milk filling and caramel chips.
- GS25 and GS The Fresh: Hojicha, a dark shell with roasted tea filling.
- Emart, Emart Everyday and Emart24: Honey and Pear, a dark shell with honey flavor and pear syrup.
The maker announced the four on November 4 as a limited winter run, so don't count on them lasting past the season. They come boxed, which makes them an easy gift from a trip, and a walk past three or four branches costs you nothing but the chocolate.
QWER Sandwiches at Emart24: Which Member Is Which?
Emart24 has turned its sandwich shelf into a fan event. Working with the girl band QWER, it is rolling out 21 sandwiches from November 4: six new ones and 15 existing ones in new packaging. Four are matched to a member's personality. Chodan gets the Onion Tuna Salad Sandwich, Magenta the Garlic Egg Ham and Cheese, Hina the Sausage Egg and Cheese, and Siyeon the Crunchy Ham and Vegetable.
Fans get more than packaging. Buyers who enter by November 12 go into a draw for 200 places at a one-day store manager event at the Dessert Lab Seoul Forest branch on November 18, and an app stamp event from November 13 to 30 offers signed copies of the CEREMONY mini album and member Polaroids. Emart24 is also where you find the Honey and Pear chocolate, so one stop can tick off two items.
The Rice Cake Desserts Now on the Shelf
Rice cake is the dessert Seoul has been queuing for this autumn, and the chains have moved fast to bring it within reach. CU's Mochi Pave Chocolate Matcha, out since October 22, pairs chewy mochi with dense pave chocolate. It follows the Saeng Choco Mochi series, which CU says sold more than 400,000 in its first month. 7-Eleven took its cue from popular rice cake shops with Pumpkin Injeolmi and Black Sesame rice cakes, bite-size at six to a pack for 3,500 won.
The oddest of the lot is GS25's SULBING Pizza Seolgi: steamed rice cake topped with pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni and corn. It is sold frozen in a two-piece, 130-gram pack that you heat in the microwave. For how the idea took off, see our guide to pizza seolgi.
Hot Cases and Winter Layers: What to Know Before You Go
Not everything new comes in a wrapper. 7-Eleven sells the newer Hopungmi sweet potato through November, then switches to aged Beni Haruka in December, and our roasted sweet potato guide covers the rest of that story. GS25 brought back instant fish cake two weeks earlier than last year, with six kinds made with Busan brand Goraesa. According to 7-Eleven, its fish cake sales jumped 564 percent from October 21 to November 3 compared with the same days a month earlier. CU, meanwhile, is introducing about 500 Smart Cookers, mostly near universities and studio apartments. You scan a barcode and the machine picks the program for you.
The other surprise is the clothing shelf. Convenience stores are now a real option when the cold catches you underdressed. CU sells a light padded jacket at 39,900 won, a windbreaker at 27,900 won and a fleece at 22,900 won, in black and two sizes. Emart24 added a light padded jacket for the first time at 34,900 won, and GS25 stocks thermal underwear and a windbreaker made with MUSINSA Standard. Look there too for hot packs, warm socks, earmuffs and touchscreen gloves.
One thing to plan around: stock varies by store. New items reach shelves in stages, and some branches choose not to run hot cases at all. If a branch doesn't have what you came for, try the next one. Prices here are those announced at launch and can change.
Haru's Note
Don't treat this list as a checklist. A convenience store is at its best at the end of a long cold day, when you only need one warm thing to carry back to your room. Choose whichever item here you could never find at home, and let the rest be a reason to look in the next window you pass. In a Korean winter, that next window is rarely far away.
