1ď¸âŁđĽ Who Started the âDubai Chewy Cookieâ? đŹđ
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â Two brands are commonly cited as the origin â and depending on how you look at it, both can be considered the original.
⢠Dallato (Cheongju, Chungbuk): First to launch a square-shaped âDubai Chewy Cookieâ
⢠Mond Cookie (Jinju, Gyeongnam): First to launch a round Dubai chocolate chewy cookie wrapped in marshmallow filling
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đ§đŹ The term âDubai Chewy Cookieâ itself â and the idea of combining a chewy cookie with Dubai chocolate â did start with Dallato. At the same time, the round-shaped âDujjonkuâ most people recognize today was first created by Mond Cookie. So⌠letâs just call both of them the original and keep the peace đ
2ď¸âŁ đ The Beginning of the âDujjonkuâ Trend đąđď¸
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â The nationwide Dujjonku craze began after IVEâs Jang Wonyoung posted about eating one on September 22, calling it delicious
⢠The dessert she shared â Palette Dessert in Incheon â later gained even more traction when Kim Sejeong and ENHYPENâs Sunoo posted their own ě¸ěŚěˇ (proof shots)
⢠Soon after, âDujjonkuâ was mentioned by TWS, RIIZE, WOODZ, ěźëݏëśëś, and many other celebrities â eventually making it onto KBS News
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đ§đŹ At this point, the impact is so massive that it almost feels fair to say: âDujjonku is the trend Jang Wonyoung launched.â
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3ď¸âŁđ˝ The Dujjonku That Made Chef Ahn Sung-jae Do an âA/Sâ đđ
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â During last Christmas season, Chef Ahn Sung-jae recreated Dujjonku in his own style for his children on YouTube â and unintentionally sparked controversy
⢠The video racked up 4.75M views and 14K comments, with top comments like âI asked for fried chicken and got boiled chicken instead,â and âIf youâre going to reinterpret Dujjonku like this, why did you say Edward Leeâs bibimbap wasnât bibimbap?ââ many receiving 60â70K likes
⢠On Jan 14, his follow-up âA/S videoâ surpassed 3.5M views and 16K comments within 24 hours, with comments referencing viral catchphrases from Culinary Class Wars 2, earning 60Kâ100K likes
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đ§đŹ After watching the A/S video, turns out even customers at Chef Ahnâs restaurants have been asking, âWhen are you making Dujjonku?â Some even brought real Dujjonku as gifts for his daughter Siyoung⌠That said, Duddagangduranmari (Dubai Hard Candy Ă Egg Roll) was⌠honestly not it đ
4ď¸âŁđĽ From Gukbap Shops to Convenience Stores â Even 5-Star Hotels đŽđ¨
â Dujjonku is now sold everywhere â from gukbap restaurants, ramen shops, tteokbokki spots, to small business owners leveraging the keyword for visibility and buzz
⢠CUâs Dubai-themed products have surpassed 8.3 million units sold, while GS25âs Dubai chocolate desserts saw sales jump 4.3Ă compared to launch month
⢠At Pierre Gagnaire Seoul inside Lotte Hotel Seoul, a Dujjonku-inspired petit four is being served as the dessert for all courses through February
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đ§đŹ Convenience stores and small businesses move fast with trends â thatâs expected. But seeing Dujjonku appear in 5-star hotel fine dining? Thatâs rare. Very rare.
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5ď¸âŁđś Expanding Beyond Food â Fashion & Digital Content đđ˛
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â The Dujjonku trend has now expanded beyond F&B into toys, fashion, and digital content
⢠Character brand Cheroff Mongmo sold out its first pre-order batch immediately after launching âDubai Chewy Mongmoâ keyrings
⢠SNOW, a Naver subsidiary, released a Dujjonku AR filter that adds a cookie-like headpiece and chocolate powder smudges â later boosted when ILLITâs Wonhee posted a selfie using the filter
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đ§đŹ On fashion platform ABLY, keywords like âDubaiâ and âDubai Chewy Cookieâ ranked for four consecutive weeks from late December to mid-January. At this point, isnât Dujjonku joining Malatang and Yeopddeok as a permanent companion for women in their 20s and 30s⌠or is it just me?
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