The Tteokbokki Wars

In Korea today, there is a certain dish that has become the "best" item in the fast food industry.

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[Interview : ] "Tteokbokki, tteokbokki!"

[SOV]
[Interview : ] "Tteokbokki".

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[Interview : ] "It's delicious".

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[Interview : ] "It's great. The kids love it".

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[Interview : ] "It's so chewy and yummy!"

That's right, the entire nation is going wild over none other than tteokbokki! The tteokbokki market is rapidly expanding, and new tteokbokki stores open each day to satisfy the nation's cravings for the spicy dish.

On the streets of Korea today, it's not unusual to see signs for tteokbokki franchises. How did tteokbokki go from being a street food to a branded item

The trend began in 2009, when the number of tteokbokki brands and stores nearly doubled from the year before.

[Interview : Park Nam-su, Chief of PR Korea Enterprise Strategy Institute] "Tteokbokki, which used to be sold by street vendors, became a major branded product at the turn of the century. It became its own industry. Around that time, the government also announced its intention to globalize Korean food and provided support for rice products. That helped the tteokbokki industry grow rapidly".

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries began to provide support for the tteokbokki industry in 2009, planning to expand the tteokbokki market to US$1.4 billion by 2013. The efforts include standardizing the tteokbokki cooking process, product development, and promotion and increasing exportation of tteokbooki.

The market responded to the plan with enthusiasm, and new tteokbokki brands began sprouting up left and right. In September, Tony An, former member of H.O.T. and one of Korea's pioneer idol stars, drew media attention by launching his own fast food chain. Even the Hallyu stars are joining in the tteokbokki craze!

[Interview : Park Nam-su, Chief of PR Korea Enterprise Strategy Institute] "There are currently about 60 tteokbokki brands. The top brand, "Addal", has 850 stores. "Olive Tteokbokki", which belongs to Korea's largest franchise group BBQ, has 350 stores. "Jaws Tteokbokki" has 70 stores, and "Yo-run Tteokbokki" has 150 stores. The tteokbokki market is expected to continue to grow".

We visited a seminar given by a top tteokbokki brand on how to begin a tteokbokki enterprise.

Tteokbokki seems to remain the hottest item on the market. There's not an empty seat in the room.

[Interview : ] "People who want to start their business must be desperate to succeed. Being prepared for any contingency in order to avoid failure naturally leads to success".

Why are these entrepreneurs interested in selling tteokbokki, of all the items out there that could be invested in[Interview : Lee Jeong-ok, Aspiring tteokbokki store owner] "All Koreans love tteokbokki. Tteokbokki is also cheap and accessible, making it very marketable".

[Interview : Lee Ji-eun, Aspiring tteokbokki store owner] "From the consumer's point of view, branded tteokbooki seems neater. Paying attention to packaging and sanitation brings customers to branded tteokbokki franchises".

We visited an entrepreneur who successfully opened a branch of a major tteokbokki brand in this residential area of Incheon. The store is small, but it is always a full house, and more orders are placed for delivery. The branch recently renewed their contract with the tteokbokki brand's headquarters.

[SOV]
[Interview : ] "Tteokbokki, please!"

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[Interview : ] "One rice tteokbokki to go!"

One reason behind the rise in tteokbokki stores is that a tteokbokki store is not a capital-intensive enterprise.

[Interview : Park Su-jin, Branch owner of a tteokbokki franchise] "It cost about $51,000 for the kitchen equipment, interior design, and franchise license, excluding rent. We are currently making a lot of sales, and every day is very enjoyable".

By standardizing the taste of tteokbokki and offering a neat store interior, branded tteokbokki was able to attract consumers wary of street food. People now go out of their way to find branded tteokbokki.

[Interview : Jeong Hui-yun, Diner] "There's actually a tteokbokki place in front of my house, but I come here instead. My son likes the tteokbokki here as well".

[Interview : Im Hyeon-ok, Diner] "More than anything else, the store is cleaner than most tteokbokki places. There's an open kitchen, so I can watch the entire cooking process and know that I'm eating food that is safe".

As tteokbokki chains flooded the market, each brand began to operate its own factory to produce tteokbokki ingredients. At the factories, the most important factor is sanitation.

[Interview : Lee Jeong-hun, Factory chief] "In the food business, cleanliness and sanitation are priorities. The air shower is a must!"

This is where tteok, the rice cake in tteokbokki, is produced to be shipped off to the various branches of the franchise. All tteokbokki brands focus on creating and standardizing the taste of their own tteokbokki, in order to give their consumers the same tteokbokki experience at each branch.

[Interview : Lee Jeong-hun, Factory chief] "We're so busy these days. We produce about 18 tons of rice cake for tteokbokki each day, and the orders keep getting larger".

The tteokbokki brands are now in cutthroat competition for the market, and each has developed its own marketing strategy - from hiring good-looking employees to creating exotic sauces.

And of course, the next step is to expand business abroad. The ultimate goal is globalization.

The addictive, spicy taste of tteokbokki is already hooking foreigners from around the world.

[Interview : Fritg Schmidt, Tourist United States] "Pretty hot. I could use some water".

[Interview : Warren Neiland, Tourist United States] "If I'm in a hurry and I want something quick to eat, tteokbokki. Always".

[Interview : Lee Gyeong-su, CEO of a tteokbokki brand] "We want to try our best to contribute to the globalization of Korean food and tteokbokki. We are prepared to go anywhere and everywhere, and we will strive to promote tteokbokki to as many countries as we can".

Tteokbokki has transformed over the ages, from a royal palace food to a street food to a branded item! We hope that tteokbokki will continue to rise and expand, and make its way into the hearts of fast food lovers all over the world.

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Mouthwatering indeed. I've noticed many first-time visitors to Korea love the Tteokbokki you can get on the street or at places like the ones we just saw.
And hopefully there will be opportunities to frequent franchises overseas.
The variety is amazing now. I really like the carbonara style. It's just like pasta.
Very delicious. Do you think they deliver We should check.