A report in the Korean Herald suggests that consumers are turning to healthy snacks that use premium ingredients following the crisis in late 2008 that saw milk contaminated with the harmful industrial chemical melamine spread through the food chain.
According to news reports, local retailer Bokwang Family Mart recently released a report on sales from 1 to 15 March in their nationwide convenience stores. Their findings revealed that sales of well-being, premium snacks have risen significantly since February.
A representative of Bokwang Family Mart was quoted as saying that "there is more demand for premium snacks because of the food safety alert caused by the melamine crisis."