The soaring popularity of lunch boxes has made it one of the top-selling products at Korea’s convenience stores, according to data Friday.

Convenience store chain CU said that for the first time, a lunch box product recorded the most sales at its outlets. The retail chain’s “Baek Jong-won Hanpan Lunch Box” raised the most sales out of all its products this year. 

From January to June, sales of lunch boxes at CU tripled compared to the same period last year.

This is the first time that lunch boxes have recorded more sales than alcohol and beverages, the traditional strongholds in convenience store sales.

Rival chain GS25 also saw a spike in sales of lunch box products, with two of its products taking fourth and 10th place in its top 10 products this year.

The lunch box market is expected to continue expansion. According to a report by Heungkuk Securities analyst Lim Young-joo, lunch box sales still make up just 5-7 percent of convenience store sales, compared to 30 percent in Japan. Sluggish growth in the economy is likely to lead consumers to seek out meal replacements through convenience store products rather than to dine out, fueling growth.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)