[Provided by E-mart]
[Provided by E-mart]

South Korea's food industry has launched a wave of stamina-food marketing campaigns to mark Chobok, the first of the three hottest days on the traditional lunar calendar. Promotions span a wide range of restorative dishes, from samgyetang and eel to hanwoo beef and fried chicken.

E-mart is offering up to 50 percent off stamina foods — including freshwater eel, live abalone and antibiotic-free young chickens — through Wednesday. Among the featured items, a pack of two 500-gram antibiotic-free domestic chickens, the key ingredient for samgyetang, is available for 7,128 won ($6) with a promotional card payment, a 40 percent discount.

Lotte Mart and Lotte Department Store are centering their Chobok promotions on watermelon. On Chobok day only, they will sell freshly harvested watermelons (8 to 9 kilograms each) in limited quantities for 22,990 won. Lotte Department Store is also offering high-sugar-content "watermelon dosirak" at all its Greater Seoul locations through July 25, priced at 16,900 won per 1-kilogram pack.

GS Refresh is selling a domestic whole-eel rice bowl as a limited product available only during the three Bok days — Chobok, Jungbok and Malbok.

A model holds a sliced watermelon at the food hall on the first below-ground floor of Lotte Department Store's main branch in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. [Provided by Lotte Department Store]
A model holds a sliced watermelon at the food hall on the first below-ground floor of Lotte Department Store's main branch in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. [Provided by Lotte Department Store]

Hyundai Green Food, a food company under Hyundai Department Store Group, is serving special menus at company cafeterias nationwide for Chobok, including a red ginseng samgyetang developed in collaboration with Cheong Kwan Jang, the red and fermented ginseng brand of KGC.

Competition in the ready-to-eat meal segment is equally fierce. Lotte Wellfood's meal-kit brand Siksairon has unveiled an "Ilwoljeong Black Garlic Samgyetang," created in partnership with Ilwoljeong, a century-old restaurant in Daegu. CJ CheilJedang is selling Pyongyang-style naengmyeon and perilla oil makguksu developed with chef Choi Kang-rok, as well as a samgyetang made with chef Yoon Na-ra, all under its Bibigo ready-to-eat brand. Ottogi has launched a Dongdaemun-style dak-hanmari kalguksu ramyun.

Ourhome is running a "Chobok Stamina Food Festival" on its online store through Aug. 14, offering up to 40 percent off samgyetang, loach soup and half-chicken gomtang.

[Provided by Dining Brands Group]
[Provided by Dining Brands Group]

Franchise chains are also joining the push. Changgo43, part of Dining Brands Group, is marking the three Bok days with a lineup that includes grilled meats — among them a 500-hour-aged strip loin and a premium hanwoo assortment — alongside galbitang, hanwoo bulgogi hot pot and cold hoe. During the Bok season, customers who order the "Kkaetsuni Perilla Galbitang" will receive a complimentary Häagen-Dazs ice cream.

KFC is selling its limited-edition "Bok Bucket" for 14,900 won through Aug. 17. Last year, average chicken sales and transaction counts on Chobok day rose 13 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively, compared with the same day of the prior week.

Restaurant franchise operator Bon Aif is running stamina-food discount promotions across its major brands, including Bon Juk, Bon Juk & Bibimbap, Bon Dosirak and Bon Gane Gukbap (Bon Seolleongtang).

Lotte Wellfood's Siksairon x century-old restaurant samgyetang new product [Provided by Lotte Wellfood]
Lotte Wellfood's Siksairon x century-old restaurant samgyetang new product [Provided by Lotte Wellfood]

siuu@heraldcorp.com