A counter is full of packs of fried chicken at a retail outlet in Seoul on Nov. 28, 2022, hours ahead of a World Cup Group H match between South Korea and Ghana. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean fried chicken franchises saw their sales rise during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last fall despite an industry-wide slump for restaurants, data showed Monday.
According to a report from the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp., the total revenue of the nation’s restaurant businesses amounted to 11.1 trillion won (US$8.69 billion) in November 2022, down 1.4 percent from a month earlier.
Of the total, offline revenues fell by 1.1 percent to 9.6 trillion won, while revenue from delivery apps declined by 3.6 percent to 1.4 trillion won.
November was the month when the number of new COVID-19 cases took an upturn, heading into another winter virus wave. In addition, consumers were more burdened from eating out due to the hike in inflation.
In contrast, however, fried chicken franchise revenue rose by 6.3 percent from a month earlier, the highest growth among all types of restaurants.
In particular, on the day of the matches between South Korea-Uruguay (Nov. 24) and South Korea-Ghana (Nov. 28), fried chicken delivery orders marked explosive growth.
In October, a month before the opening of the World Cup, the revenue of the restaurant industry increased by 16.6 percent from a month earlier, higher than 12.1 percent for chicken franchises.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
