[THE INVESTOR] Sales of processed foods, health tonics and other related products in South Korea have jumped amid the Olympic craze, industry data showed on Aug. 9.

Due to the 12-hour time difference between South Korea and Brazil, plays of South Korean athletes are largely broadcast in late-night or early-morning hours, so handy processed foods or heath tonics that help relieve fatigue have become popular among sports fans.

According to South Korea’s largest open market website Gmarket, sales of instant noodles skyrocketed 120 percent in the first seven days of this month from a year earlier, with those of dumplings, pizza and tteokbokki -- a Korean snack food made with rice cake, fish cake and red chili sauce -- soaring 36 percent.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)