Cold comfort: Korean convenience store launches hangover cure ice cream

E-Mart

20/05/2016 11:00

By Jee Heun Kahng 
    SEOUL, May 20 (Reuters) - South Koreans, Asia's biggest per 
capita alcohol consumers, can now soothe themselves after a big 
night out with hangover-fighting ice cream. 
    A convenience store chain has launched the Gyeondyo-bar, 
which translates as "hang in there" and according to the company 
is the first ice cream bar marketed specifically to combat the 
after-effects of alcohol consumption. It hit the shelves on 
Friday. 
    Drinking, often in groups of co-workers, is big business in 
South Korea, and so are hangover cures, which generate roughly 
150 billion won ($126 million) in annual sales, according to 
industry data, ranging from pills and beverages to cosmetics for 
women who want to keep their skin soft after a boozy night. 
    Those cures exclude the "hangover soup" that is a staple of 
Korean restaurant menus. 
    South Korea is exporting its remedies.  
    Its most popular hangover beverage, Hut-gae Condition, made 
by a unit of the CJ Corp conglomerate, has been sold in China, 
Japan, and Vietnam since 2014. The drink also features in the 
popular 2014 music video "Hangover," by Korean pop star Psy and 
U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg. 
    South Koreans drink 12.3 litres of alcohol per year, the 
most in Asia-Pacific, according to a 2014 World Health 
Organisation report. 
    A study by South Korea's National Health Insurance Policy 
Institute estimated that the social cost of drinking, including 
to lost production, hospitalisations and early deaths, was about 
9.45 trillion won in 2013. 
    The ice cream bar's name "expresses the hardships of 
employees who have to suffer a working day after heavy drinking, 
as well as to provide comfort to those who have to come to work 
early after frequent nights of drinking", convenience store 
chain Withme FS, a unit of E-Mart Co Ltd  139480.KS , part of 
the Shinsegae Group conglomerate, said in a press release. 
    The grapefruit-flavoured dessert contains 0.7 percent 
oriental raisin tree fruit juice, a traditional hangover remedy 
cited in a Korean medicine book from the 17th century that is 
included in popular hangover potions. 
    A 2012 article in the Journal of Neuroscience found oriental 
raisin tree extract reduced symptoms of intoxication in rats. 
    ($1 = 1,190 won) 
 
 (Editing by Tony Munroe and Nick Macfie) 
 ((JeeHeun.Kahng@thomsonreuters.com; +82-2-3704-5648;)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA HANGOVER/ICECREAM