[Edaily Reporter KYUNG GYEYOUNG ] The “tteokji pilgrimage” craze—a trend centered on the MZ generation that involves visiting famous rice cake shops—has spread to convenience stores, as the convenience store industry has been launching a series of rice cake products.

According to industry sources on the 26th, GS25—a convenience store chain operated by GS Retail(007070)—is introducing “Seolbing Pizza Seolgi.” Limited pre-orders will be accepted via the mobile app “Our Neighborhood GS” from today through the 31st, and sales will begin at GS25 stores nationwide on the 5th of next month.

Pizza Seolgi is a product featuring pizza toppings on top of white rice cake, and it has been gaining attention on social media for its unique combination. Seolbing’s Pizza Seolgi recreates the flavor of pizza by topping white rice cake with pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, corn, and other ingredients.

Seven-Eleven, a convenience store chain operated by Korea Seven, will launch “Pumpkin Injeolmi Rice Cakes” and “Black Sesame Rice Cakes” on the 29th. The Pumpkin Injeolmi Rice Cakes, made with domestic glutinous rice, feature sweet pumpkin powder, while the Black Sesame Rice Cakes incorporate black sesame powder to enhance their flavors. Both products were developed based on signature menu items from popular rice cake specialty shops.

BGF Retail(282330)CU, a convenience store chain operated by E-Land, is also strengthening its lineup of rice cake desserts by adding “Matcha-Flavored Mochi Pave Chocolate.” This treat combines a chewy, thin glutinous rice cake with the distinctive bittersweet flavor of matcha and sweet chocolate.

The reason these convenience stores are putting so much effort into rice cakes is that interest in them among the MZ generation is growing so much that people are even going on “rice cake pilgrimages.” According to an analysis by SomTrend, mentions of rice cake-related keywords in September increased by 40% compared to January. In addition to pizza seolgi, products that reinterpret traditional rice cakes—such as “Hanjeongseon,” which features fresh fruit inside glutinous rice cakes, and “Chang-eok Rice Cake,” a pumpkin injeolmi coated with Cas crumbs—are also gaining popularity.

Rice cake sales at convenience stores are also soaring. At CU, the year-over-year growth rate for rice cake sales has gradually increased from 42.2% in 2024 to 17.6% in 2025, and reached 96.5% from January to September of this year. CU’s “Fresh Chocolate Mochi” series sold 400,000 units within just one month of its launch.

Sales of rice cakes at 7-Eleven also rose 62% from January through September this year compared to the same period last year, far surpassing last year’s growth rate of 19% for the same period. Since the start of this year, sales of rice cakes to foreign customers have also grown by 80% compared to the same period last year.

Seo Hee-ju, a merchandise planner (MD) in charge of desserts at 7-Eleven, said, “The customer base seeking rice cake products is expanding to include not only domestic customers but also foreign tourists.”