Loved by Tourists in Korea, This K-Snack Is Now Going Global

One of Korea’s favorite tourist snacks is officially going global.

Orion’s Bichobi, a chocolate-filled biscuit that has become a popular souvenir among foreign visitors, will launch at all 37 Costco stores in Japan this October, followed by U.S. Costco locations in early 2027.

The snack, which debuted in 2022, sandwiches a solid piece of chocolate between two crispy biscuits. It became even more popular after Orion released Korea-themed packaging, including Korea Edition and National Museum of Korea Edition versions.

Soon, it became one of those snacks tourists were encouraged to add to their Seoul shopping lists and social media helped spread the word. The numbers show just how closely its popularity is tied to tourism.

From January to August, the 10 Korean stores with the highest Bichobi sales were all located in areas popular with foreign visitors, including Seoul Station, Incheon and Gimpo airports, Jamsil, Busan’s Jagalchi Market and Jeju Island.

Sales at those locations more than doubled on average from a year earlier, while total domestic sales jumped 53%. Demand became so strong that Orion expanded production at its Iksan factory in April, doubling Bichobi ’s manufacturing capacity.

Now, the company is taking the snack beyond Korea. Orion plans to turn Bichobi into its next major global K-snack, following the overseas success of products such as Turtle Chips and Cham Bungeoppang.

The strategy is simple: become a must-buy in Korea first, then take it to shoppers overseas.

“Starting with entry into Costco in the U.S. and Japan, we will gradually expand the countries and retail channels where the product is sold,” an Orion representative said.

For a snack that started as a Korean shopping-list favorite for tourists, Bichobi is now becoming something bigger: a K-snack you might soon be able to buy without booking a flight to Seoul.