Five dessert brands, convenience store and department store executives speak
200 pizza tteok pieces given away free, gone in under 20 minutes
Industry and visitors together as K-desserts eye overseas markets
A curly-haired foreign visitor took a bite of pizza tteok — a Korean rice cake reimagined with pizza toppings — paused to take in the unfamiliar flavor, then broke into a smile. Austin, who had traveled from New York, said he was fascinated by the idea of recasting a familiar food like pizza in the form of a traditional Korean rice cake.
"You can feel all kinds of textures — slightly crispy pepperoni, corn with a real bite to it," he said. "I also tried Pasak, the freeze-dried yeot candy, and that was a fun experience." He added that he had never had a clear sense of what Korean desserts were, but the event had revealed a side of them he had not expected.
The Consumer Forum 2027: K-Sweet Festa drew a crowd to the Jandi Sarangbang hall of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Thursday afternoon — not only industry insiders but also ordinary visitors and foreign tourists eager to taste and buy Korean desserts.
The dessert vendor booths set up inside the forum hall were the first thing to catch visitors' eyes. Yeongdobariddeokbang, a Busan rice cake shop that went viral on SNS for its pizza tteok, was joined by Pasak, a K-freeze-dried dessert brand; Little Bite More, a gluten-free specialty shop; Hotco Bakery, known for winning first place in the salt bread competition on the TV program "Saenghwal-ui Dallin"; and Yudongbu Ciabatta, celebrated for its breads made with organic flour and natural sourdough starter.
The 200 pizza tteok pieces Yeongdobariddeokbang prepared for a free first-come, first-served giveaway were gone in under 20 minutes. One office worker in their 30s took a half-day off to attend. "I bought products from Pasak that I had been seeing on SNS," the visitor said. "It was exciting to browse and taste so many different desserts all in one place." Song Su-jeong, 28, said she had learned about the event from a banner. "I was glad I could finally try the salt bread I had always been curious about," she said. "If there's another event like this, I'd definitely come back."
The event went beyond simply tasting and buying desserts. Some visitors came specifically to hear industry talks on the growth potential and market trends of K-desserts. "It was great to taste and buy desserts from brands I had been curious about after seeing them on SNS," the office worker said. "With K-desserts getting so much attention lately, it was also interesting to hear from industry experts about the latest trends."
Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong, who attended to deliver congratulatory remarks, toured the vendor booths and spoke with representatives of each brand. Park Jin-cheol, chief executive of Modern Art, which operates Yeongdobariddeokbang, said the event was meaningful because it gave him a chance to meet and talk directly with people in the industry. "I will do my best to strengthen the competitiveness of our products and expand our sales channels so that tteok can break into overseas markets," he said.
siuu@heraldcorp.com
