Recently, the traditional Korean food kimbap has been gaining sensational popularity in the United States. The recently released frozen kimbap that can be eaten in a microwave is expected to be in short supply until at least October. The social media ‘Tik Tok’ had a great influence on the fact that kimbap, which is unfamiliar to Americans, was sold out nationwide. The protagonist of the video with the most views said, “When I was 5 years old, I was bullied while eating kimbap, and it was a truly incredible change.”
On the 7th, in an article titled ‘Kimbab sold out thanks to TikTok virality’, the US NBC interviewed Sarah Ahn, the protagonist of the video that reached 11 million views. On the 16th of last month, Ahn posted a video with her mother tasting frozen kimbap recently released at ‘Trader Joe’s.’
In her video, Ahn brings her frozen kimbap and shows it to her mother. Her mother, Namsun, said, “It looks just like kimbap,” but she was surprised, saying, “I don’t understand” the recipe for heating it in a microwave. The two people, who were cautious at first, tasted the kimbap and said, “It’s not bad.” After she finished eating a whole row of kimbap, Namsoon commented, “It’s better than the ones sold at Korean supermarkets.”
As of the 7th, three weeks later, this video was viewed more than 11 million times and had more than 4,000 comments. Americans who watched the video responded, “I want to try kimbap, too,” and “I trust the Korean mother’s review.” Afterwards, Americans먹튀검증 from various cultures began posting videos of themselves tasting kimbap, and two weeks later, kimbap was sold out in supermarkets across the United States.
Mr. Ahn said, “When I was 5 years old, I was bullied because of kimbap,” and “Now it is sold out.” “This shows how much progress has been made in Korean culture being accepted and consumed by other people.” She continued, “Now people are obsessed with everything: Korean music, Korean food, Korean culture, Korean mothers, etc. It’s such a huge change.”
NBC said, “It is a common story for immigrant children to be ridiculed for bringing traditional food to school lunches,” and added, “However, with the explosive popularity of Korean culture and social media, ‘K-culture’ quickly became mainstream in the United States.” evaluated. Hyun-ho Son, general manager of TikTok Korea, said, “TikTok users around the world, including in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia, chose TikTok as a platform to discover K- content,” and added, “The hashtag ‘ Kpop’ recorded 400 billion views and is popular among pop, rock, and hip-hop artists.” “It has surpassed ,” he said.
Even employees at the manufacturer Trader Joe’s are surprised by the blockbuster popularity of frozen gimbap. One employee said, “At the store I work at, people put 15 to 20 pieces of kimbap into their shopping carts without even blinking. “They were even white people who supported the Republican Party.”
As kimbap continued to sell out, other food manufacturers also began importing kimbap. Robin Lee, president of Lee Brothers, an Asian food distributor, said they are considering various sales channels to import frozen kimbap to the U.S. “It’s good that everyone can enjoy the success of the kimbap made at Trader Joe’s.”