BGF Retail's CU ramen brand ‘Cheat Key’ surpasses 400,000 sales

BGF Retail's convenience store brand, CU, has seen significant success with its proprietary ramen line, ‘Cheat Key’. The brand has surpassed 400,000 cumulative sales, averaging approximately 9,500 units sold per day.

Developers Han Jeong-ju and Choi Hae-uk detailed a rigorous six-month development process aimed at differentiating the products through high-quality ingredients. For the ‘Real Cream Buldak Flavor’, the team included actual sterilized milk to enhance taste, a decision that required customizing packaging and finding specialized suppliers. The ‘Deep Shrimp Tangmyeon’ features real shrimp ingredients, including a 10% shrimp content in the post-added powder and shrimp-based noodles.

The team emphasized that the extended development period, involving dozens of tests, was necessary to create long-lasting products rather than temporary trends. CU plans to release new ramen products in the second half of the year, aiming for ‘mega-hit’ status.