| Banana Flavored Milk | |
| Type: | Milk |
| Manufacturer: | Binggrae |
| Origin: | South Korea |
| Introduced: | 1974 |
| Color: | Light yellow |
Banana Flavored Milk (Korean: 바나나맛 우유) is a South Korean milk beverage produced by Binggrae in Korea.[1] [2] [3]
The beverage consists of 80 percent milk and contains just a hint of banana flavor.[4] Other regular flavors include strawberry, melon, banana light, and coffee. Lychee, peach, mandarin, mulberry, and pumpkin-sweet potato were, or are currently, seasonal flavors.[5] [6] [7]
Introduced in 1974,[1] [8] [9] Banana Flavored Milk sells 800,000 bottles per day in Korea, and around 5.3 billion bottles have been sold across the country as of 2010.[10] According to the manufacturer, Binggrae,[11] sales in 2014 alone totalled 150 billion South Korean won. The bottle's design is inspired by traditional Korean jars. According to the company, it initially decided to use a polystyrene bottle to differentiate its product from the glass bottles and plastic packages that were prevalent as milk containers in 1970s. The bottle has an overhanging lip which prevents the milk from dripping onto the drinker's face. In the 1970s, the Korean government wanted to encourage citizens to drink more milk, so Binggrae created a banana-flavored milk, capitalizing on the fact that bananas were considered a luxury at the time. They believed consumers would be enticed to purchase their milk for a taste of the fruit. The popularity of banana flavored milk has increased after celebrities such as BTS singer Jungkook were seen drinking the milk.[12] Its popularity is evident worldwide, with the drink ranking in the top 3 Flavored Milks on Amazon Best Seller's lists as of June 2024.[13]
Banana-flavored milk was first exported to the U.S. and is sold in numerous other countries including mainland China (+Hong Kong), Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. This expansion helped to increase sales from 700 million Korean Won to 15 billion by 2013. Many Thai consumers came to the Korean Pavilion of the Bangkok Food Fair held on 31 May 2017 to 4 June 2017 to taste this product.[14] [15]