Orion puts hangul on snack packs in Vietnam, India and beyond

Orion announced Tuesday it is stepping up its "hangul marketing" strategy, printing Korean script directly on product packaging sold overseas.

The snack maker aims to weave hangul and distinctly Korean expressions naturally into its products, reinforcing a K-food identity and expanding touchpoints with foreign consumers as global interest in Korean culture spills over into the language itself.

Last month, Orion rebranded its four-layer Vietnamese snack "Masita" as "Kobukchip," aligning it with the product name used in South Korea. Its "Bungo" snack sold in the United States and other markets now also carries the Korean name "Chambungeobbang" in hangul on the packaging, reflecting requests from local buyers.

Beyond product names, Orion is incorporating Korean expressions that have gained traction through Korean films, drama series and SNS. The Vietnamese version of its Oh! Gamja snack now features the word "jjigmeok" — a colloquial term for dipping food in sauce — while its Ostar potato chip, the top-selling fresh-potato snack in Vietnam, carries "daebak," a popular exclamation meaning something like "awesome."

Hangul also appears in flavor descriptions. Notable examples include "corn soup" written in Korean on the Chinese version of Kobukchip, tteokbokki flavor on the Vietnamese Tayo line, and "spicy" in Korean on the K-Snack range sold in India.

"In line with the K-Wave craze, we plan to continue expanding our marketing efforts to win over foreign consumers by naturally incorporating Korean culture — including hangul and Korea's distinctive flavors — into our products," an Orion official said.