8 Korean Convenience Store Snacks You Can Get in the UK
Korean convenience stores are legendary — stocked with snacks that are creative, delicious, and often bewildering. Here are eight that have made it to the UK and are absolutely worth trying.
The Korean Convenience Store Experience
Korean convenience stores (mainly GS25, CU, and 7-Eleven) are a cultural phenomenon. Open 24 hours, they stock not just snacks but full meals, beauty products, and an astonishing variety of drinks. The snack aisles alone could occupy an afternoon of browsing. Many of Korea's most beloved snacks have now crossed over to the UK market, and they reveal a snacking culture that is playful, inventive, and obsessed with texture.
The Crisps
**Haitai Honey Butter Chips** caused a national frenzy when they launched in Korea — they were sold out everywhere for months. The flavour is exactly what the name promises: a salted crisp dusted with honey and butter seasoning. It sounds odd but the sweet-savoury combination is genuinely addictive. **Nongshim Shrimp Crackers** (Saeukkang) are Korea's answer to prawn crackers, though they are lighter, crunchier, and have a more intense shrimp flavour. They have been a Korean staple since 1971. **Orion Turtle Chips** are multi-layered corn snacks with a unique architecture — four layers of crisp that shatter in a deeply satisfying way. The cinnamon sugar flavour is the one to try first.
The Sweet Snacks
**Lotte Choco Pie** is an institution — soft sponge cake, marshmallow cream, and a chocolate shell. It has been made since 1974 and remains one of Korea's best-selling snacks. **Pepero Almond** takes the classic chocolate-dipped biscuit stick and adds crushed almonds for crunch. **Lotte Kancho** are small round biscuit balls filled with chocolate — they are marketed at children but popular with everyone. All three are the kind of snacks that vanish from a shared bowl in minutes.
The Savoury Oddities
**Nongshim Onion Rings** are light, crunchy rings with a strong onion flavour — they look like miniature onion rings but are entirely snack-food. They are weirdly compelling and pair well with beer. **Haitai Baked Sweet Potato Snack** is a puffed snack with a genuine roasted sweet potato flavour — not too sweet, with a satisfying crunch. It is one of those snacks that is difficult to categorise but impossible to stop eating once you start.
Building a Korean Snack Box
If you want to experience the breadth of Korean snacking, order a selection of these eight and spread them out for an evening of comparative tasting. The variety of textures and flavours — sweet, savoury, crunchy, chewy, salty, buttery — reflects the Korean approach to snacking: why settle for one flavour when you can have all of them?
K-Food → Listicle
8 Korean Convenience Store Snacks You Can Get in the UK
The best Korean convenience store snacks, now available in Britain.
If you want to experience the breadth of Korean snacking, order a selection of these eight and spread them out for an evening of comparative tasting. The variety of textures and flavours — sweet, savoury, crunchy, chewy, salty, buttery — reflects the Korean approach to snacking: why settle for one flavour when you can have all of them?
Nongshim Onion Rings are light, crunchy rings with a strong onion flavour — they look like miniature onion rings but are entirely snack-food. They are weirdly compelling and pair well with beer. Haitai Baked Sweet Potato Snack is a puffed snack with a genuine roasted sweet potato flavour — not too sweet, with a satisfying crunch. It is one of those snacks that is difficult to categorise but impossible to stop eating once you start.
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The Sweet Snacks
Lotte Choco Pie is an institution — soft sponge cake, marshmallow cream, and a chocolate shell. It has been made since 1974 and remains one of Korea's best-selling snacks. Pepero Almond takes the classic chocolate-dipped biscuit stick and adds crushed almonds for crunch. Lotte Kancho are small round biscuit balls filled with chocolate — they are marketed at children but popular with everyone. All three are the kind of snacks that vanish from a shared bowl in minutes.
02
The Crisps
Haitai Honey Butter Chips caused a national frenzy when they launched in Korea — they were sold out everywhere for months. The flavour is exactly what the name promises: a salted crisp dusted with honey and butter seasoning. It sounds odd but the sweet-savoury combination is genuinely addictive. Nongshim Shrimp Crackers (Saeukkang) are Korea's answer to prawn crackers, though they are lighter, crunchier, and have a more intense shrimp flavour. They have been a Korean staple since 1971. Orion Turtle Chips are multi-layered corn snacks with a unique architecture — four layers of crisp that shatter in a deeply satisfying way. The cinnamon sugar flavour is the one to try first.
01
The Korean Convenience Store Experience
Korean convenience stores (mainly GS25, CU, and 7-Eleven) are a cultural phenomenon. Open 24 hours, they stock not just snacks but full meals, beauty products, and an astonishing variety of drinks. The snack aisles alone could occupy an afternoon of browsing. Many of Korea's most beloved snacks have now crossed over to the UK market, and they reveal a snacking culture that is playful, inventive, and obsessed with texture.