Bhc’s Matcho King chicken celebrates 10th year as steady consumer pick
bhc, one of Korea’s top fried chicken franchises, is celebrating its 10th year since the debut of Matcho King, a signature soy sauce-flavored fried chicken, which has continued as a steady consumer favorite in the country’s competitive fried chicken market.
Dining Brands Group, the operator of bhc, reports that since its launch in July 2015, the soy sauce-flavored Matcho King has been enjoyed more than 40 million times, generating nearly 800 billion won ($577 million) in sales.
Matcho King introduced a new flavor option to the domestic fried chicken market, which had long been dominated by plain fried and sweet-and-spicy offerings. In its first year, Matcho King sold 5.8 million servings, taking the market by surprise. Since then, it has maintained a steady market share with average annual sales of 4 million servings.
“I never thought Matcho King would last this long,” said Jeon Byeong-jun, deputy manager for Dining Brands Group’s menu development team, at a bhc restaurant in Seoul’s Seocho District, Tuesday. “Soy sauce-based fried chickens were traditionally in a weaker market position than fried or seasoned chickens. Matcho King broke that spell.”
Matcho King is described as crispy, soy-saucy and addictive. Developed over six months by the Dining Brands Group R&D Center, the recipe contains soy sauce, honey, hot pepper, garlic, green onion and black sesame seed. The result is what the company dubs “dopamine chicken.”
Matcho King was a follow-up to bhc’s previously launched successful menu lineup, Bburinkle, whose signature taste comes from a unique cheese coating. The company wanted to come up with a new popular item to continue Bburinkle’s popularity, opting for a new kind of soy sauce fried chicken. Now, Matcho King comprises 16 menu items, including rice, a burger, takoyaki, home meal replacement kits and items for convenience store brand CU.
“Matcho King has gone beyond a soy sauce chicken. Added with saltiness, garlic’s numbing spice and honey’s sweetness, the concoction has created a strongly stimulating savor that hits your head hard,” said Alicia Hong, lead of Dining Brands Group’s public relations team.
*Source: The Korea Times
