Oldies but goodies booming amid economic downturn

Finger-long yogurt bottles of (65mL) are a big moneymaker for Lotte Mart. The product, manufactured by Korea Yakult and many other makers, has been a hit product for a long time. But the global financial crisis at the end of 2008 sparked even more popularity of these products.

Sales of these drinking yogurt products increased by 21 percent in the first 10 months of this year compared with 2009. During the same period, sales of premium yogurt bottles rose just 7.6 percent while Yogurt eaten with spoon sold 9.1 percent less.

The oldies but goodies pink-color long sausages also sold 28.6 percent more than four years earlier. The growth is sharply higher than the Vienna sausages (1 percent) and hams (-8.9 percent) tallied over the same period.

The boom for oldies but goodies has been a keyword for the Korean food market since the global financial crisis.

With consumer sentiment contracted, consumers tend to open their wallets for cheap and proven oldies than new products. Self-type products that demand no labor costs and so-called "Plan B" products whose quality is similar to high-end products but cheaper are also loved goods in times of economic downturn.

After an analysis of the sales data of large department stores and large retail outlets since 2008 and The Dong-A Ilbo found that products loved in recession times were those with high performance compared to price.

Oldies but goodies are also popular at E-mart. Sales of bean jam buns, soboru breads and cream buns surged 190 percent from the same period of 2011 in the first 11 months of this year. Cheap price is the attractive point. The price of pink sausages is around 500 won (0.5 cents) per 100 grams, only one-third of that of hams.

Brands selling for more than 30 years are also selling well. According to Lotte Mart`s analysis of its sales of 10 long-loved brands such as Bravo Cone, Ace crackers, Vegemil, Ghana chocolates and Ottogi curry, their sales growth was 22.2 percent in the past two years. This is a remarkable performance when comparing with total sales growth (-5 percent) of all retail outlets in the same period.

Kim Jae-moon, research fellow at LG Economic Research Institute, said, "In recession times, consumers tend to buy long-living brands whose quality is proven, and feel relieved at their safe consumption behavior."