Chimaek wins during World Cup as Koreans chow down and chug

Employees are busy frying and packaging fried chicken at a BB.Q Chicken branch in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

Fried chicken is selling like hotcakes as soccer fans in Korea cheer for the home team and scarf down the perennial favorite during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Chimaek, a combination of the words chicken and beer, or maekju, is popular choice for people watching sports events, with convenience stores and fried chicken franchises enjoying a busy season during the World Cup. Sales of the foods surged when the Korean national soccer team went against Ghana on Monday night.

Sales of beer at 7-Eleven on rose 150 percent compared to Nov. 14. Fried chicken sales rose 80 percent during the same period. Non-alcoholic beer sales rose 200 percent.

GS25’s beer sales rose 183 percent, and fried chicken sales rose 120 percent.

CU said its beer sales on Monday rose 229 percent, also compared to Nov. 14. Fried chicken sales rose 55.4 percent. At Emart24, beer sales rose 132 percent.

With people gathering around Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul to cheer on the streets and root for the national soccer team, convenience store branches around the area reported sales surges.

At the 10 7-Eleven branches in Gwanghwamun, fried chicken sales jumped 1,400 percent compared to Nov. 14. Many people gathered despite heavy rain that fell throughout the night, with umbrella and raincoat sales skyrocketing 45,000 percent.

Convenience stores are looking forward to an even bigger jump in sales for the upcoming match with Portugal.

“The match with Portugal starts at Friday midnight, and we’re expecting sales to rise even more considering more people will be up cheering for the games because its right ahead of the weekend,” said an Emart24 spokesperson.

Fried chicken franchises are also enjoying the surge of customers.

Genesis BBQ, which operates BB.Q Chicken, said sales at its branches on Monday rose 220 percent on month. Kyochon Chicken’s sales rose 160 percent on month and BHC Chicken’s jumped 297 percent on month.

Fried chicken franchises were getting themselves ready for the busy World Cup season. Genesis BBQ increased the server capacity for the BB.Q application ahead of the match with Ghana.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]