Page 74 - #63 eng 电子版

c Opinion

Story/ Hilda Chen Hui
Call Me..

COFFEE

MIX

owadays there is a massive boom of cafe and coffee culture in
South Korea. Last year an average South Korean drank 500
N cups of coffee, reflecting its popularity as a number one bev-
erage consumed during the day. In Seoul and other cities alike,
you will find cafes of all sorts: small to big, chain to independent, unique
to mainstream. However, the major development in Korean coffee culture
first appeared during the Korean War years (1950-1953), when the
Americans introduced instant coffee. Then the local three-in-one coffee
was tailor-made for Koreans by instant coffee brand Dongsuh Foods in
1976. They looked into ways to help local consumers enjoy coffee any-
time and anywhere. This three-in-one coffee which comes as a mix of
powdered milk, coffee and sugar has been beloved by many Koreans
because of its unique taste and cheap price, here it’s called coffee mix.
Today the biggest production and consumption in the market still belongs
to instant coffee. According to news service, The Investor, instant cof-
fee accounted for the largest portion of market with 13.21 billion cups
sold, followed by canned coffee with 3.79 billion cups, brewed coffee
with 3.64 billion cups and others taking up the rest.

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