Korea’s Dessert Trends Are Fun, But Mask a Deeper Problem

Walk down any street in Seoul and you’ll spot the latest summer dessert trend – lattes, shaved ice flakes, and even cookies and sandwiches, all dripping with gooey brown sugar syrup. The brown sugar craze started earlier this year with bubble tea, thanks to Taiwanese brand Tiger Sugar, which entered the South Korean market in March and soon expanded to six locations thanks to long lines of people demanding the sticky sweet drink.

Now, fans of brown sugar (also sometimes called black sugar) do not have to brave the long lines that still wrap around outside the original Tiger Sugar locations – nearly every Korean beverage franchise has started selling their own version of the drink. And people are eating it up – bubble tea chain Gong Cha reportedly sold 1.3 million cups of brown sugar bubble tea within 40 days of introducing the new item.