Fido and Princess cash in on Korea's Chuseok holiday festivities

Industry

Published: 02 Sep. 2022, 15:04 Updated: 02 Sep. 2022, 17:07

Fido and Princess cash in on Korea's Chuseok holiday festivities

A dog and its owner attend the 2022 K-Pet Fair Songdo held at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon on Sunday. [NEWS1]

With pet owners wanting their fur babies to enjoy the festivities of the fast-approaching Chuseok harvest holidays, sales of gifts for dogs and cats have been on the rise.

Gift items of choice are diversifying, with options ranging from hanbok, or traditional Korean clothes, nutritional supplements, and even songpyeon, or moon-shaped rice cakes — all made especially for those with four legs.

On SSG.com, an e-commerce marketplace, sales of pet products between July 22 and Aug. 26 surged tenfold compared to the same period last year. Chuseok falls on Sept. 10 this year.

Snacks and nutritional supplements were especially popular, and even more pricey items such as cat towers costing more than 100,000 won ($74) were benefitting.

Examples of popular nutritional supplements include Kwangdong Pharmaceutical’s Gyeonokgo, advertised to help with dogs' joint and cartilage health, and Chong Kun Dang Bio’s Labivet, a lactic acid supplement for pets.

An advertisement for Kwangdong Pharmaceutical's Gyeonokgo [KWANGDONG PHARMACEUTICAL]

Hypoallergenic snacks for dogs with allergies are also gaining traction.

Market Kurly recently introduced a rib soup and songpyeon meal for dogs. It consists of renditions of common Chuseok dishes, adapted to the canine palate, such as Korean beef rib soup, assorted fried foods, songpyeon, traditional sweets and candlefish. The rib soup is cooked with Korean beef broth, while the songpyeon are stuffed with duck meat and the sweets are made from minced rice and pork loin.

Traditional sweets for dogs sold by Market Kurly. [MARKET KURLY]

Hanbok for dogs are also becoming a trend. On Instagram, nearly 100,000 posts have been uploaded with the hashtag “dog hanbok.”

Hanbok outfits for dogs sold on Coupang have reviews such as “My dog wore hanbok and received money on Lunar New Year,” and, “I bought a dog hanbok for our family photos during the holiday.”

Posts on instagram with the hashtag "dog hanbok." [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The hotel industry is also targeting families with pets who are planning trips during the Chuseok holidays. Kolon Resort & Hotels announced on Sunday that it has launched a mobile Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test for dogs, so that dog owners can gauge their pets’ tendencies and plan vacations accordingly.

The MBTI test for dogs, modeled after the test for humans which is immensely popular especially among people in their 20s and 30s, classifies dogs into 16 types. People can easily analyze their dog’s tendencies by taking the test on their phone and answering 12 questions, such as how their dog reacts when it meets another dog and how it acts when it goes on walks.

MBTI test for dogs, launched by Kolon Resort & Hotels [KOLON RESORT & HOTELS]

Kolon Resort & Hotels said it is also preparing online and offline events to celebrate the test's launch and to provide dog owners who have participated in the test with accommodation vouchers for rooms at Mauna Ocean Resort through a lottery.

The reason behind pet supplies appearing as Chuseok gifts is the spread of what Koreans call the “pet-fam” concept, or people who consider their pets as family. People of this mindset think, naturally, pets should join in on festivities when family members gather to share food and spend quality time together.

As of 2020, an estimated 6.04 million households in Korea have pets, with 5.86 million dogs and 2.11 million cats, according to the KB Financial Group’s research institute. The Korea Rural Economic Institute predicts that the market related to pet products will grow from 4.1 trillion won this year to 6 trillion won by 2027.

BY YOO JI-YOEN [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]