• Food Science and Industry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2017

One noticeable thing about the recently opened 'Starfield Hanam' and 'Hyundai Department Store (Pangyo)' is consumer's interest and positive response to their hosted food brands ranging from restaurants, dessert cafes and coffee shops. Department store and shopping complex, so-called aggregation of lifestyle are making the most out of food brands as a differentiation strategy and consumer's interest on it act as a barometer for current consumption trend. Along with the high interest on food market, changes in lifestyle, such as increasing ratio of two or less households, advent of multiple communication channels as SNS, deluge of information and gradually developing individualism, are creating needs for convenient but high quality eating culture. This need contributed in transforming the product family which was once famous as 'Instant Food' into a 'Home Meal Replacement (HMR)'. Since local food companies are striving to keep pace with the trend and actively penetrating HMR market, regardless of long-term recession, the Korean domestic food market is steadily growing with a bright future.