"I want to eat fruit, but peeling it, cutting it and cleaning up the rind is a hassle."
As more shoppers think this way, the way retailers sell fruit in South Korea is changing. Demand is growing fast for everything from pre-cut fruit sold in portions rather than whole pieces or full bags, to services that trim fruit to a customer's preferred size on the spot.
Department Store Prep Services Jump 90%, Outpacing Fruit Sales
Lotte Department Store's fruit-preparation service Easy Fresh was used 90% more often in the first eight months of this year than in the same period last year, according to the retail industry on the 22nd. That far exceeded the 15% growth in overall produce sales during the same period.
Easy Fresh cuts watermelons, melons, pineapples and other fruit bought at the department store into bite-sized pieces. The trimming itself is free with a purchase, with about 2,000 won charged for the container. The service currently operates at five stores, including the Jamsil branch. Use of the on-the-spot watermelon cutting service rose 65% from a year earlier.
Other department stores reported similar trends. Shinsegae Department Store's sales of prepped fruit rose 58% in the January-August period from a year earlier, more than double the 20.6% growth in total fruit sales. Hyundai Department Store also runs Fresh Table at its major stores, washing and peeling purchased fruit and vegetables before cutting them to the requested size.
At convenience stores, products that can be eaten straight from the package are selling well. GS25's prepped fruit sales rose 27.6% in the first eight months of the year, outpacing the 20.3% growth in total fruit sales. The chain currently sells about 40 items, including fruit cups, watermelon slices and apples paired with peanut butter. On the 15th, it added six new pouch-style cut fruit products.
At CU, fruit cup sales rose 32.6% over the same period, ahead of the 27.2% growth in total fruit sales. The number of stores with fresh-fruit cutting kiosks grew from just eight in January to 54 as of last month.
Shoppers Pay a Premium as One- and Two-Person Households Reshape Habits
Prepped fruit costs more per unit than buying whole, but consumers are willingly paying the difference. It saves the time spent washing, peeling and cutting, and spares them the trouble of discarding leftovers and thick rinds.
For households of one or two people in particular, a single large piece of fruit can lose freshness before it is finished. As small-portion buying grows, more shoppers value convenience and less food waste over price.
The trend was already visible in summer sales. Lotte Mart's watermelon slice volumes rose 71.9% in June from a year earlier, while cut melon rose 52.6% and cut tangerines 146.9%. At SSG.com, June sales of convenience fruit, including ready-to-eat items, rose 21% from a year earlier.
Retailers are also moving beyond simply slicing fruit. E-Mart Traders sells a rindless half watermelon, cut in half and peeled before being placed whole into a dedicated container. About 5,500 units sold in June and July last year, and sales in the June 1-24 period this year jumped more than 60% from a year earlier.
Lotte Mart applies a freshness technology called Fresh L to fruit such as apples that discolor quickly after cutting. It has also widened its options, offering watermelon slices in halves, quarters and eighths, and selling durian as flesh only, without its thick rind.
No More Rind Waste: 'Demand for Easy Fruit Is Rising'
The popularity of prepped fruit cannot be explained by convenience alone. More shoppers want small portions that fit in compact refrigerators, and the fact that they no longer have to dispose of bulky rinds from watermelons or pineapples is cited as another advantage.
Retailers are widening the range accordingly, from large fruit such as watermelon and melon to apples, pears and kiwis. Some products pair two kinds of fruit in a lunchbox-style package, or come in a range of sizes from 200 to 800 grams.
Some services also take the environment into account. Hyundai Department Store's Fresh Table places prepped fruit and vegetables in reusable containers brought by customers or in reusable store containers, rather than single-use plastic. The store's own reusable container sells for 3,000 won.
An SSG.com official said demand for easy-to-eat fruit has combined with the rise in single-person households to drive steady sales growth, adding that the company is strengthening services to raise customer satisfaction, including a freshness guarantee that offers unconditional refunds on cut fruit delivered through its Ssak (SSG's quick-delivery) service if customers are unhappy with quality.
