Daesang’s Chung Jung One has introduced its 2026 Chuseok gift collection with a stronger emphasis on lower-sugar products, plant-based oils, and fermented and aged foods. The company is retaining practical, value-oriented sets for price-conscious consumers while introducing more specific choices based on health preferences, ingredients and production methods.
The collection moves beyond the traditional holiday formula built largely around product quantity and price. Allulose and low-sugar Hongcho drinking vinegar address demand for reduced-sugar alternatives, while sesame and olive oils appeal to consumers paying closer attention to the flavour and provenance of plant-based oils. Fermentation and ageing distinguish the premium condiment range, while Miwon draws on the cultural value of a long-established Korean brand.
South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.8% year on year in July 2026. As retailers expand discounts and practical offerings for this year’s Chuseok season, Daesang is pursuing a two-tier strategy: protecting mass-market demand with useful household products while reaching premium consumers through differentiated ingredients and processing expertise.
Extending wellness demand into everyday ingredients
Chung Jung One has brought back its lower-sugar gift range after its introduction last year. The collection includes low-sugar Hongcho and allulose sets designed for repeated use in drinks and home cooking.
This reflects a broader expansion of health-oriented holiday gifting beyond dietary supplements. Instead of giving products consumed only for a limited period, consumers can choose ingredients that fit into everyday eating habits and offer a practical way to moderate sugar intake.
Daesang has not limited this approach to the removal or reduction of a single ingredient. It has also divided its plant-based oil range by raw material and processing method, allowing consumers to select products according to flavour and intended use.
The new Sesame Oil Roasting Selection contains light-, medium- and dark-roasted varieties. By showing how roasting intensity changes aroma, colour and nuttiness, the set adds processing method to purchasing criteria that have traditionally centred on origin, volume and price.
The olive oil set contains oils made from three different cultivars: Arbequina, Hojiblanca and Picual. Consumers can compare their flavour and aroma profiles and choose an oil for salads, sauces or heated dishes.
The strategy resembles the way coffee and wine markets have developed categories around origin, variety and production method. By applying a roasting vocabulary to sesame oil and identifying olive oil by cultivar, Daesang is creating distinctions within products previously sold under the broad category of “premium oil.”
This can give consumers a reason to choose beyond price. It also brings manufacturing expertise—usually invisible behind the finished product—into the purchasing experience.
The premium condiment collection follows the same logic. It includes five-year-aged soy sauce, sesame oil made from Korean whole sesame seeds and sea salt aged for three years, alongside germinated brown-rice gochujang and Korean rice brown-rice gochujang. The value proposition rests on ingredients, fermentation and time rather than packaging alone.
Practical sets preserve the mass-market base
Chung Jung One’s value-oriented sets are built around frequently used products such as seasonings, sauces, cooking oils, canned ham and seaweed. The company is offering Chung Jung One, Chung Jung One Special, Our Farm, Farm Premium Oil and traditional laver sets across multiple price points.
These products provide broad consumer reach and utility after the holiday, while the lower-sugar, premium oil and fermented-food ranges showcase Daesang’s food-processing capabilities. Maintaining both categories allows the company to move further into premium products without relying solely on higher prices or losing customers focused on household value.
The Miwon Heritage Gift Set takes a different approach. It recreates the red colour and package design of Miwon gift sets from the 1960s in two retro-style tins, while replacing the original format with portable five-gram sachets.
The product draws on accumulated brand memory while adapting it to contemporary use. Miwon is therefore presented not only as a functional seasoning, but also as an artifact connected to the development of Korean home cooking and the country’s modern food industry.
Daesang has also introduced 21 online-exclusive sets designed in collaboration with artist Cha In-chul. Selected condiment and premium oil sets replace conventional shopping bags with reusable canvas bags. The packaging is intended to improve visual differentiation online while remaining useful after the gift has been delivered.
The significance of the 2026 collection lies in its attempt to turn holiday gift sets from bundled household products into a channel for discovering health-oriented ingredients, taste distinctions and food-processing expertise. The commercial test will be whether interest generated during Chuseok continues after the holiday.
If consumers subsequently purchase the roast-selected sesame oils, varietal olive oils and lower-sugar products individually, Daesang could use its holiday collection as a testing ground for broader product demand. Repeat purchases and the development of year-round ranges may ultimately provide a more meaningful measure of the strategy than the number of gift sets sold.
