Pepero Day in Korea (11 November 2026): What a Box Costs, the Deals Visitors Can't Use, and the Rice-Cake Rival

Last updated: 2 October 2026. Pepero prices are CU's list prices from its official product catalogue (cu.bgfretail.com, snacks category, 1,074 items), read on 2 October 2026. Sales figures are from Lotte Wellfood and the convenience-store chains as reported in the Korean press; dates are given with each number. The 2026 Pepero Day sets had not been announced on the date above. This guide will be updated when they are.

Pepero Day (빼빼로데이, Ppaeppaero Dei) falls on 11 November, a Wednesday in 2026. Korean convenience stores turn their front windows into walls of red, green and yellow boxes, and people hand thin chocolate-dipped biscuit sticks to friends, classmates, colleagues and partners. Most English explainers stop at "it's like Valentine's Day with snacks". What you actually need to know is what a box costs, which deals you can use as a visitor, and whether the gift sets are worth it. This guide covers those, using the stores' own numbers.

The short version. Every standard Pepero box at CU costs ₩2,000 today. A gift set has usually cost roughly what its boxes cost added together. The steep "50% off" signs mostly need a Korean bank card or payment app. And the same date is also Garaetteok Day, the government's rice-cake answer to the whole thing.

Pepero Day at home: Lotte Pepero 5-flavour variety pack (10 boxes) plus Snowy Almond, on AmazonAffiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Quick Guide: Pepero Day 2026 in numbers

What Pepero Day is, and where it really came from

Pepero (빼빼로) is a biscuit stick dipped in chocolate, made by Lotte Wellfood (롯데웰푸드), the company called Lotte Confectionery (롯데제과) until 2023. It launched in 1983. The name plays on ppaeppa (빼빼), Korean for skinny.

The day did not start as a marketing launch. The story Korean media and Lotte tell goes like this. In 1993, high-school girls in Busan began giving each other Pepero on 11 November with the wish that they would grow as slim as the stick, the "1" in the date. A Lotte regional sales manager in the Gyeongnam area noticed that Pepero sold unusually well every 11 November. By 1996 Yonhap was describing 11/11 as the day young people gave "long, thin things like Pepero" to friends, partners and seniors, wishing them slimness. Lotte took up the marketing nationally in the late 1990s (Korean press accounts usually date it to 1997).

So teenagers came first and the company followed. A common Korean complaint is that the day is pure 상술 (sangsul, a commercial gimmick). The honest answer is that it is both: a schoolyard joke that became a very large business. The slimness wish has gone. Today it is a day for small "thinking of you" gifts, so office desks and school lockers fill up with boxes, not only couples' hands.

You might like: Korean Couple Anniversaries: 100 Days, White Day, and Pepero Day

For how 11/11 fits into the wider Korean couple calendar of 100-day anniversaries, White Day and Black Day, see our guide to Korean couple anniversaries. This page is about the money.

How big Pepero Day is: the sales numbers

This is where the Korean sources tell you more than the English ones.

About half of a year's Pepero sales happen in one season. Lotte Wellfood says that nearly half of Pepero's annual sales come around Pepero Day and the weeks before it. One chain put a precise number on it: emart24 said 47% of its whole year's Pepero volume in 2022 sold in November alone.

For the convenience stores, November is Pepero's month. In November 2021 the four big chains reported these shares of their whole year's Pepero sales, as published by 아시아경제 on 4 November 2022: GS25 52.2%, 7-Eleven 45%, emart24 41% and CU 40%. The supermarkets were similar: Lotte Mart 45%, Homeplus 40%, Emart 36%.

The brand keeps growing. Pepero made ₩215.2 billion in 2024, and Lotte forecast ₩241.5 billion for 2025. More of it now comes from abroad: exports were about ₩70 billion in 2024 and about ₩87 billion in 2025, according to Lotte's September 2026 announcement. Lotte has also said it wants Pepero to be a ₩1 trillion brand by 2035. Its Pepero Day campaign ran in 35 regions in 2025, including an 11 November event in New York's Times Square.

The deals keep it moving. CU said its Pepero Day sales from 1 to 11 November 2025 rose 32.4% on the year before. Its own collaboration products, led by Pokémon's Ditto (메타몽) that year, rose 55%. The best seller was a keyboard-keycap keyring, and on resale sites it went for three times the shop price. That tells you what the special sets are really selling.

What a box costs in October 2026

The prices above are what CU lists today, and GS25, 7-Eleven and emart24 usually list the same price for the same box. A few things stand out.

One price, very different amounts. Every flavour costs ₩2,000, but the Original box holds 55 g and Almond, White Cookie and Strawberry hold 37 g. Per gram, Original is about ₩36 and the 37 g boxes are about ₩54, half as much again. If you are buying a stack to share, Original is the best value.

₩2,000 is new. Lotte raised Pepero from ₩1,800 to ₩2,000 on 17 February 2025, part of an average 9.5% rise on 26 snacks, blaming cocoa, which had hit record prices. That came only eight months after a June 2024 rise. Our August 2026 food-price report shows how far ₩2,000 sits above the ₩1,700 most famous Korean snack bags cost.

Pocky is the other stick. Haitai's Pocky (해태 포키), made in Korea by the Glico-Haitai joint venture (Glico launched Pocky in Japan in 1966), is ₩2,200 for 46 g.

No deals yet. On 2 October none of the six Pepero boxes carried a 1+1 or 2+1 badge in CU's catalogue. The Pepero deals arrive with November.

The flavours keep changing. Lotte added its first "premium" Pepero, Double Rich Salty Vanilla (더블리치 솔티바닐라), in March 2026 as a limited-time product. In April 2026 it released Pepero in the colours of the ten KBO baseball teams. The 4,000 pre-order sets sold out before the week-long pre-order ended. Lotte has not announced a 2026 Pepero Day edition yet.

The deals, and why most of them are not for visitors

In late October the shelves change. In 2024 and 2025 each chain ran a named campaign from 1 November: GS25's "빼스티벌" (Ppae-stival), CU's in-store festival, 7-Eleven's and emart24's character sets. What the signs say and what you can use are two different things.

The biggest discounts are payment-method deals. In 2025 these were the offers, all reported by the chains on 3–4 November:

• GS25: "2+2" on six Pepero, Pocky and Ferrero products, 1–10 November, with GS Pay. Gift sets got 50% cashback with Kakao Pay, Naver Pay, Toss Pay or Payco.
• CU: up to 50% off four or more single Pepero boxes with BC, Woori, K Bank, CU Plus T-money cards or Kakao Pay Money. Its own character products were up to 70% off with a CU Npay card.
• 7-Eleven: 30% off selected Teddy Bear and Sanrio sets with Kakao Pay Money. "2+2" on three Teddy Bear Pepero with Samsung, BC or Naver Pay.
• emart24: a prize draw for scanning its game tie-in sets in the emart24 app.

Notice the pattern. Almost every deep discount needs a Korean-issued card or a Korean pay wallet. Those wallets are tied to a Korean bank account and phone number, so most short-stay visitors can't open them. With a foreign Visa or Mastercard or a WOWPASS, you will usually pay the full ₩2,000 for a single box. One exception in 2025: CU's 50% deal also accepted its own CU Plus T-money card, a prepaid card sold at the counter, so read the poster's list of cards. The exception is a plain 1+1 or 2+1 sticker. Those apply to anyone, whatever you pay with, so look for them.

What a gift set really costs. Look again at the CU photo. In November 2024, when a box was ₩1,800, the six-flavour box was ₩10,800, exactly six boxes' worth. The NewJeans sets were ₩14,400, the price of eight boxes. The sets add packaging, a keyring, a photo card or a tin. They don't add a discount. GS25 alone offered more than 150 Pepero gift sets in 2025, CU 44 tie-in products, 7-Eleven 116 and emart24 seven. If you want the idol packaging or the merchandise, buy the set. If you want Pepero, buy the single boxes.

You might like: Korean Convenience Store Food Guide: Dosirak and Snacks

2026 so far: what Lotte has announced

As of 2 October 2026, this is what is official:

• The campaign song. On 10 September 2026 Stray Kids, Pepero's global ambassadors since May 2025, released a digital single called "11월 11일" (November 11), written and composed by member Han. Lotte released a teaser for its 2026 global Pepero Day campaign, set to the song, on 11 September. The campaign covered 35 regions in 2025, up from 15 in 2024.
• No 2026 limited Pepero Day flavour or set has been announced by Lotte or the four chains on the date above. In the last two years the chains announced their sets in the last days of October and the first days of November, with deals starting on 1 November. We will add them here when they are published, with prices.

If you are planning a trip, expect the displays from late October, the deals from 1 November, and the busiest shelves on 10–11 November.

The same date is Garaetteok Day (가래떡데이)

11 November is also Farmers' Day (농업인의 날), an official commemorative day. Its date comes from a different reading of the numbers. Written in Chinese characters, 11 looks like 土, earth, so 11/11 is "earth month, earth day" (土月土日). The idea is that farmers are born from the soil, live by it and return to it.

Since 2006 the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (농림축산식품부) has promoted the same date as Garaetteok Day (가래떡데이), to get people eating rice. The aim is to give garaetteok made from the new harvest's rice and thank the farmers who grew it. The stick shape is the joke: if you want four "1"s, rice cake is long and thin too. The software company AhnLab says it was handing out garaetteok on 11 November from 2003, three years before the ministry took the idea up.

In practice, you'll meet Garaetteok Day at farmers' co-op stalls, local government events and canteens, not in convenience-store windows. Plain garaetteok is chewy and lightly salted, and Koreans often toast it and dip it in honey.

There's a third option, too. Some Koreans give Haitai's 구운감자 (Gooun Gamja), a baked potato stick in a tall box, as a no-chocolate, not-Lotte Pepero Day gift. Our Gooun Gamja guide explains it. CU's catalogue lists a ₩4,000 Gooun Gamja on a 2+1 deal on 2 October 2026, a bigger box than the roughly ₩1,000 small size.

What to buy, what to skip, and what to bring home

Buy single boxes of Original. ₩2,000 for 55 g is the best value on the shelf, and it's the safe gift for someone you don't know well. If you're new in a Korean office or class, a box each for the people you sit with is a well-received gesture, and nobody expects one back on the spot.

Look for a plain 1+1 or 2+1 sticker. Those apply whatever card you pay with. A "50% QR" or "2+2 with card" sign almost certainly needs a Korean card or pay app.

Skip the gift set unless you want what is in it. Going by the 2024 prices on the shelf, a set costs about the same as its boxes bought one by one. You're paying for the keyring, the tin or the idol packaging. If that's the point, as it is for many fans, the set is worth it. If you just want snacks, it isn't.

Don't buy on the 11th if you can help it. Popular flavours and character sets sell out on 10–11 November. CU's 2025 Ditto keyring went to resale at three times its price. Buy in the first week of November.

What travels. Pepero boxes are light, flat and sealed, and in November Korea is cool enough that the chocolate won't melt in a suitcase. They're a cheap, very Korean souvenir. Pack them in your hand luggage or near the top of your suitcase so they don't snap. Check the date printed on the box, which is the 유통기한 (yutonggihan, sell-by date). Usual food-import rules apply at home. Plain packaged snacks are generally fine, but declare food where your country asks you to.

What doesn't travel. Fresh garaetteok goes hard within a day or two unless frozen. Enjoy it in Korea.

For the rest of a Korean convenience-store run, see our convenience-store breakfast guide. For drinks with your sticks, see the Korean drinks guide, which prices every bottle the same way this guide prices Pepero.

You might like: Korean Drinks Guide: What to Buy in a Korean Convenience Store, With the Price, Sugar and Caffeine of Every Bottle

FAQ

Q: When is Pepero Day 2026? A: Wednesday 11 November 2026. The date 11/11 looks like four Pepero sticks standing in a row. Convenience-store deals usually run from 1 November to the day itself.

Q: How much does Pepero cost in Korea? A: ₩2,000 for any standard box at CU on 2 October 2026: Original 55 g, Almond, White Cookie and Strawberry 37 g, Crunky 39 g, and Choco Filled. The price rose from ₩1,800 on 17 February 2025. Pocky costs ₩2,200.

Q: Can tourists use the Pepero Day discounts? A: Plain 1+1 and 2+1 deals, yes, with any payment method. Most of the steep discounts ("50% off", "2+2", cashback) need a Korean bank card or Korean pay app such as Kakao Pay, Naver Pay or a store's own pay service, which most short-stay visitors don't have.

Q: Is Pepero Day just a Lotte marketing invention? A: It started as a 1993 trend among high-school girls in Busan, who swapped Pepero wishing each other a slim figure. Lotte took up the marketing nationally in the late 1990s. Since then it has become a large business: about half of Pepero's yearly sales happen around 11 November.

Q: What is Garaetteok Day? A: 11 November is also Farmers' Day in Korea. Since 2006 the Ministry of Agriculture has promoted it as Garaetteok Day, encouraging people to give long rice-cake sticks made from the new harvest instead of chocolate biscuits.

Q: Which Pepero flavour is best value? A: Original. It costs the same ₩2,000 as the others but holds 55 g, against 37 g for Almond, White Cookie and Strawberry, about ₩36 per gram against ₩54.

Sources

• CU (BGF Retail) official product catalogue, snacks category (cu.bgfretail.com/product), 1,074 items with list prices and 1+1/2+1 badges, read 2 October 2026: 빼빼로초코, 아몬드, 초코필드, 화이트, 크런키, 딸기 37g (₩2,000 each, no deal badge); 해태 포키 (₩2,200); 해태 구운감자 (₩4,000, 2+1). Pack weights from the pack images in the same catalogue.
• Price rise to ₩2,000 (17 February 2025, 26 products, average 9.5%; previous rise 1 June 2024): 한국경제, 6 February 2025.
• Origin (1993 Busan high-school girls, Gyeongnam sales manager, 1996 Yonhap report): 헤럴드경제, "상술 아니었어? 빼빼로데이, 누가 시작했을까", 7 June 2025; 2024 Pepero sales ₩215.2 billion from the same report.
• Chain November shares for 2021 (GS25 52.2%, 7-Eleven 45%, emart24 41%, CU 40%; Lotte Mart 45%, Homeplus 40%, Emart 36%): 아시아경제, 4 November 2022. emart24's November 2022 share (47% of its yearly Pepero volume): 아이뉴스24, 3 November 2023. "Nearly half of annual sales around Pepero Day": Lotte Wellfood, as reported by 헤럴드경제, 2025.
• 2025 forecast ₩241.5 billion, 1983 launch, ₩1 trillion 2035 goal: 머니투데이, 8 November 2025. Exports ₩70 billion (2024) and ₩87 billion (2025), 35 regions, Stray Kids single "11월 11일" released 10 September 2026: 청년일보, 10 September 2026.
• 2025 chain campaigns, product counts and payment-method deals: 아시아경제 and 서울파이낸스, 3 November 2025; 뉴시스, 4 November 2025. CU 2025 results (+32.4%, tie-ins +55%, keyring resale): 헤럴드경제, 11 November 2025. Times Square event: 헤럴드경제, 11 November 2025.
• Double Rich Salty Vanilla Pepero: 아시아경제, 11 March 2026. KBO team Pepero: 월요신문, 20 April 2026.
• Garaetteok Day (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, since 2006) and Farmers' Day (土月土日): 전북일보, 10 November 2016, and the ministry's annual campaign coverage; AhnLab's 2003 start: AhnLab company blog.
• Store photos: Wikimedia Commons, "Pepero day.jpg" and "Pepero day 2.jpg" (Saipiny, CC0); garaetteok: "Garae-tteok.jpg" (Sulkkun, CC BY-SA 4.0). Full details in this post's image-sources file.