“Find Dujjonku.” As the ‘Dubai Chewy Cookie’ (Dujjonku) has recently taken off in popularity among the young, retailers are competing to attract customers with ‘Dujjonku’ front and center.

According to the retail industry on the 12th, Dujjonku is a dessert created in Korea, inspired by the Dubai chocolate that trended in 2024. It mixes kataifi (a thin Middle Eastern noodle-like pastry) and pistachio cream for the filling, then wraps it in marshmallow blended with cocoa powder, characterized by a texture that is crisp yet sweet. Though called a cookie, it is soft and chewy, closer to rice cake.

The craze began when Jang Won-young of the group IVE posted a photo of Dujjonku on Instagram last September. As the Dujjonku fever spread nationwide, Instagram posts with the hashtag (#Dujjonku) number in the tens of thousands, and there is even a separate ‘Dujjonku map’.

Right now, department stores are most earnest about Dujjonku. The Hyundai Seoul, dubbed a ‘mecca for pop-up stores,’ has been opening a series of Dujjonku-related pop-up stores since late last year. At the Gangnam branch of Shinsegae Department Store, an ‘open-run’ continues on the first basement level at Sweet Park. Lotte Department Store is also opening Dujjonku pop-up stores nationwide at the same time; despite limits on the quantity purchasable per person, the day’s stock sells out within half a day, and the average wait time exceeds one hour.

Convenience stores are no exception. GS25 reported that after introducing a Dubai chocolate dessert in December last year, sales rose more than fourfold compared with the beginning of the year. As more customers make Dujjonku at home, sales of marshmallows, a key ingredient, jumped fiftyfold. On the Our Neighborhood GS application (app), regarded as a leading trend indicator, the ‘Dubai Chewy Choco Ball’ ranked first among search terms for two consecutive months. A GS25 representative said, “We currently offer four itemstwo Dujjonku desserts, one chocolate, and one ice creamand they are ‘instant sellouts’ as soon as they arrive.” CU likewise launched a similar ‘Dubai Chewy Glutinous Rice Cake’ last October, reaching cumulative sales of 1.8 million units.

On delivery apps, too, Dujjonku’s popularity is soaring. On Baedal Minjok, in the first week of last month, the number of takeaway orders for Dujjonku surged 321% from a month earlier, and search volume for Dujjonku increased twenty-fivefold compared with before October.

A retail industry official said, “Even though the price of pistachiosthe main ingredienthas more than doubled due to Dujjonku-driven sellouts, demand is so strong that supply cannot keep up,” adding, “It is worth watching whether consumer sentiment, dampened by prolonged high prices, will revive thanks to Dujjonku.”