A South Korean convenience store chain has introduced a hangover-curing ice cream bar.
The Gyeondyo-bar, which translates as “hang in there” and according to the company is the first ice cream bar marketed specifically to combat the after-effects of alcohol consumption hit the shelves a few weeks ago.
South Koreans, Asia’s biggest per capita alcohol consumers, can now soothe themselves after a big night out with hangover-fighting ice cream.
According to Reuters, drinking, often in groups of co-workers, is big business in South Korea, and so are hangover cures, which generate roughly 150 billion won ($126 million) in annual sales, according to industry data, ranging from pills and beverages to cosmetics for women who want to keep their skin soft after a boozy night.
Those cures exclude the “hangover soup” that is a staple of Korean restaurant menus.
Its most popular hangover beverage, Hut-gae Condition, made by a unit of the CJ Corp conglomerate, has been sold in China, Japan, and Vietnam since 2014. The drink also features in the popular 2014 music video “Hangover,” by Korean pop star Psy and U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg.
According to a 2014 World Health Organisation report, South Koreans drink 12.3 liters of alcohol per year, the most in Asia-Pacific.
