Honey Butter Chips facts for kids
Honey Butter Chips (Hangul: 허니버터칩) are a popular brand of potato chips. They are made by Haitai Calbee and sold in South Korea. These chips first came out in August 2014. They became super famous very quickly because of how people shared about them on social media. This happened from late 2014 to early 2015.
The chips were created by a Korean company called Haitai. They worked together with a Japanese snack maker named Calbee. These chips were so popular that they started a big trend in South Korea. People called it the "Honey-Butter Craze." In Japan, these chips are known as Happiness Butter Potato Chips (ポテトチップスしあわせバター).
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How the Chips Were Made
Before, in 2012, Calbee had made a similar honey butter chip for the Japanese market. It wasn't very popular there. Later, Calbee decided to team up with Haitai. They formed a joint company to sell snacks in Korea. This helped them grow their snack business.
The Honey-Butter Craze
The Honey-Butter Craze was a huge wave of excitement for Honey Butter Chips. It started in August 2014. Even though a similar chip wasn't popular in Japan, when Haitai-Calbee brought it to Korea, it became a massive hit. Young people especially loved it. The news about the chips spread quickly through social media in late 2014 and early 2015.
Haitai-Calbee saw amazing popularity with Honey Butter Chips. The chips were so hard to find in stores. People even resold them online for three times their normal price! The company planned to build a new factory in South Korea to make more chips. This new factory started working in early 2016.
In early 2015, Haitai-Calbee announced huge sales. They expected to sell chips worth 100 billion won (about 100 million US dollars) by the end of that year.
Celebrities Loved Them Too
The Honey Butter Craze grew even bigger when famous Korean people started talking about the chips. K-pop stars like Sooyoung from Girls' Generation and Siwon from Super Junior posted selfies. They showed themselves with the golden Honey Butter Chip bags. Actress So Yoo-Jin also shared a picture on her Instagram. Even a news reporter from KBS talked about the chips on TV.
In 2021, the K-pop group MCND released a song called "H.B.C." This stands for Honey Butter Chip! On a TV show called My Little Television, rock singer Jung Joon Young even reviewed different honey-butter-flavored snacks.
Hard to Find Chips
The chips went viral on social media and became super popular in Korea. Haitai-Calbee had to stop taking new orders in November 2014. This was because there was just too much demand.
A store owner in Korea said, "Honey Butter Chip may be one of the most difficult products to buy these days." Many stores put up "sold out" signs. Some even made "waiting lists" for customers. They often limited sales to one bag per person.
In January 2015, a special smartphone app was launched. It was called "Honey Butter Chip-Hunting." This app told people where they could find the chips in nearby stores. More than 10,000 people downloaded it!
Because the chips were so rare, their prices went way up online. In December 2014, a small bag could sell for almost 50 times its original cost. In 2023, you could even find them for around $56 US dollars on Amazon.
To keep up, Haitai-Calbee increased its production a lot. They ran their factories 24 hours a day. However, they were careful not to make too many. They knew that crazes can sometimes end quickly.
Other Honey Butter Snacks
After Honey Butter Chips became famous, other companies made similar snacks.
- Jagabee Honey Mild
- These are honey butter potato fries made by Haitai-Calbee.
- Honey Tong Tong
- These are ridged triangle potato chips. Haitai made them on their own, not with Calbee.
Special Flavors
Honey Butter Chips also released many special edition flavors:
- Honey Butter Chip Special Edition - Canada Maple Syrup
- Honey Butter Chip Special Edition - Cherry Blossom
- Honey Butter Chip Winter Warmers - Almond Caramel
- Honey Butter Chip Special Edition - Lavender & Blueberry
- Honey Butter Chip Special Edition - Chou Cream & Maple Syrup
- Honey Butter Chip Special Edition - Fromage Blanc
- Honey Butter Chip Save the Date - Wedding Cake
- Honey Butter Chip Special Edition - Sentimental Season - Mocha
- Honey Butter Chip Especial Edicion - Dulce de Leche
Other Companies Join In
Once Honey Butter Chips became a hit, many other companies made similar products. They often used "Honey Butter" in their names or designs. This was to make people think their products were just as popular. The words "Honey Butter" became like a magic phrase for selling food!
A big Korean food company, Nongshim, launched "Sumi Chip Honey Mustard" in December. It tasted similar to Honey Butter Chips. Unlike the original, Sumi Chips were easy to find in many stores. So, people started buying them instead. Sumi Chips became even more popular than the original. They sold four times more, with about ten thousand packs sold every day.
Because of the limited supply of Honey Butter Chips and all the new similar products, the original chips dropped in sales. They went from being the top seller to third place in early 2015.
- NongShim "Sumi Potato Chips"
- These chips became very popular because Honey Butter Chips were hard to find. NongShim's chips were widely available.
- Lotte "Honey Drunken Potato Chips" (꿀먹은 감자칩)
The "Honey Butter" trend wasn't just for snacks. It even spread to other things. There were cosmetic products made with honey and butter. There was even furniture designed to look like a pack of Honey Butter Chips!
Make Your Own Honey Butter Chips
During the craze, many people started sharing recipes on YouTube. They showed how to make homemade Honey Butter Chips. You could use simple ingredients to make chips that tasted similar to the original ones.
