It is a light yogurt sorbet with a refreshing sweetness. It pairs well with soft cheese cubes and fresh blueberries. The chocolate sauce on top reminds me of the disappeared McDonald’s chocolate cone. I heard that the honeycomb topping is the most famous, but all three nearby stores were sold out, so I used honey instead. It’s delicious, but paying 13,500 won for this is quite a shocking order. This summer, instead of bingsu, it’s taken over as the so-called ‘Yoajeong’, the ‘standard of yogurt ice cream’.
Yoajeong is a delivery-only ice cream franchise established by Trillions in 2020. The first delivery store ‘Yoajeong’ was launched in Seongsu-dong in 2021. Since 2022, offline stores called ‘Cafe Yoajeong’ have opened in various locations like Seongsu, Ewha, Euljiro, and Mangwon.
On the 31st of last month, Trillions, the operator of Yoajeong, sold 100% of its shares to Samhwa Food, the operator of Arachi Chicken, for 40 billion won. This is a rare deal that emerged in a situation where F&B (food and beverage) acquisitions have recently cooled down. What is the charm of Yoajeong that has captured the MZ generation? The sixteenth story of ‘Money-making Here-Hip’ is about ‘Yoajeong’.
(1) My toppings, my way
Yoajeong partnership products / GS25 provided
On the 16th, GS25 announced that its partnership with Yoajeong, which launched the ‘Yoajeong Honey Yogurt Chocolate Ball Parfait (Yoajeong Parfait)’ on the 8th, sold 200,000 units in just a week. With daily sales exceeding 100 million won, it reportedly outperformed the previously dominant World Cone during this period. The Yoajeong Parfait, although palm-sized, is priced at 3,500 won, which is not cheap for convenience store ice cream. While honey and chocolate balls are sprinkled on top, it has become a trend to decorate it with fruits and chocolates available at home. It is also referred to as ‘the Yoajeong of the poor’ to distinguish it from the original Yoajeong.
Thus, the first charm of Yoajeong is ‘creating my own flavor by adding my favorite toppings’. Yoajeong offers over ten types of fruits and more than thirty types of snacks, toppings, and sauces. After several attempts, many create their perfect topping combinations and share them. For instance, Seong-chan from the idol group Rise combines honeycomb and seasonal fruits, while Kang Min-kyung from Davichi enjoys hers with full grapefruit, condensed milk, honeycomb, and chocolate rings or chocolate Chex. If you add all the toppings to a single serving of ice cream, it costs 52,900 won. Even when making ramen, people tend to prefer eating it their own way.
(2) Delivering fresh fruit yogurt targeting single-person households!
Yoajeong Instagram
“Why do you eat Yoajeong, anyway?”
I asked a close friend in their 20s. He replied:
“I like that it has fresh fruit. It’s hard to eat fruit when living alone. Yogurt ice cream seems healthier for the body too. Other bingsu or ice cream shops often use frozen fruit.”
The most bothersome part of living alone is eating fruits. It’s difficult to store and dispose of the peels. You might buy them with determination, only to find fruit flies at home.
In that regard, the use of fresh fruit toppings by Yoajeong is a significant advantage. With just one click on a delivery app, it arrives at your door packed in an insulated box. He also thought that ‘yogurt’ would be better for gut health compared to other ice creams.
(3) Yogurt topping ice cream is trending after 20 years
Aside from fruits and honeycomb, other topping ingredients are commonly available. There are many types of cereals like cornflakes, chocolate Chex, fruit rings, and Oreo O’s. This is cited as a reason for the rapid increase in the number of franchise locations to over 350 in just four years. Recently, Yoajeong stated, “We are overwhelmed with inquiries about franchising.”
As a result, alternative ideas have emerged, such as freezing yogurt or Greek yogurt and topping it with whatever you have at home. While it cannot be exactly the same as Yoajeong, it’s true that any yogurt will taste similar when frozen.
For older generations, Yoajeong is not a new idea. There was ‘Red Mango’ that swept the young crowd in the early 2000s. It featured softer yogurt ice cream topped with fruits and snacks. It started in 2003 with the first store at Ewha Womans University and spread nationwide.
The yogurt ice cream craze returning after 20 years feels very real. The saying that trends cycle every 20 years rings true. Notably, while Red Mango began in front of Ewha University, Yoajeong started in Seongsu-dong. CEO Park Jin-joo, born in 1990, shows that what is familiar to older generations can be reborn from a younger generation’s perspective. It would be interesting to re-evaluate a trendy item from 20 years ago.
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