14 health food and low-sugar dessert brands added

Sales at Incheon Airport wellness zone jumped 12.4 times after renovation

A view of the wellness zone at Shinsegae Duty-Free's Myeong-dong store [Shinsegae Duty-Free]
A view of the wellness zone at Shinsegae Duty-Free's Myeong-dong store [Shinsegae Duty-Free]

Shinsegae Duty-Free announced Thursday it is expanding and renovating the wellness zone on the 11th floor of its Myeong-dong store to strengthen its competitiveness in K-wellness shopping.

The overhaul was designed to meet growing consumer demand for health-conscious lifestyles, including trends around slow aging and "healthy pleasure." On top of the roughly 200 existing food and health supplement brands, 14 domestic and international brands have been added, eight of which will be carried exclusively at Shinsegae.

New health supplement offerings include Jooyoung NS, a domestic health supplement company known for its "MBP for Bones" and "Chondroitin for Joints" lines, and Nordic Naturals, a premium omega-3 brand previously available only through overseas direct purchases. Life-Space, an Australian premium probiotic brand; Rotbäckchen, a German health supplement brand; and Solaray, a global herb and vitamins brand, will all be carried exclusively, alongside Renov, a wellness lifestyle brand.

The dessert lineup has also expanded. Korean traditional dessert brands joining the zone include Taegeukdang, an 80-year-old confectionery institution; Mynormal, a brand specializing in low-sugar and keto products; and Pasak, a freeze-dried yeot brand launched by dessert influencer Anunu. Global favorites round out the selection — Forest Feast, a premium British snack brand, and Diablo, a low-sugar confectionery product.

Shinsegae Duty-Free has been steadily building out its wellness offerings. In April it opened a food zone with an expanded dessert and wellness lineup at its Incheon Airport store, and in August it launched an online wellness specialty store stocking about 30,000 products. The results have been tangible: sales of food and health supplements at the Myeong-dong store rose more than 130 percent year-on-year in the January–May period this year, while sales at the Incheon Airport wellness zone jumped 12.4 times — or 1,140 percent — compared with before the renovation.

The wellness zone expansion is also creating opportunities for small and mid-sized domestic food brands. By entering a duty-free store, these brands can gauge overseas consumer response and assess their potential for entering global markets. Shinsegae Duty-Free said it aims to continue discovering brands with differentiated products, introduce new K-food and wellness items to foreign tourists, and help raise the international profile of domestic brands.

"Wellness is a field where consumer spending is expanding beyond health supplements into food and lifestyle as a whole," a Shinsegae Duty-Free official said. "Building on the growth potential we confirmed at the airport store, we will continue to present differentiated brands and products at the Myeong-dong store to strengthen our K-wellness shopping competitiveness."


spa@heraldcorp.com