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| Sammat Hotteok CEO Lee Jong-man, right, and his sister Eun-young, center, pose at its pop-up store in Seoul, last year. / Courtesy of Sammat Hotteok |
Hotteok is one of the oldest traditional Korean delicacies, and is especially popular in winter. Similar in taste to pancakes with maple syrup, it is often found at street food stalls in Seoul during the season.
"Hotteok is our favorite food. We just felt bad it was difficult to eat in the summer season," said Sammat Hotteok CEO Lee Jong-man and his sister Eun-young.
"People love hotteok regardless of the season. We thought it would be great if hotteok was available throughout the year."
Lee and his sister started their franchise Sammat Hotteok with a street stall in 2014. Aiming to introducedifferent kinds of hotteok people can enjoy throughout the year, including hotteok with peanuts and ice cream, Sammat Hotteok has since become a local attraction in the area.
Opening its first franchise branch in Ilsan in 2017, Sammat Hotteok has now opened five direct branches and 12 franchises across the country.
It also entered the Taiwanese market in 2018, drawing attention from foreign customers as well.
"We aim to open a total of 100 franchise branches by 2020," said Lee and his sister.
"Apart from traditional hotteok, we also added different types of hotteok such as garlic and ice cream hotteok. Of them, ice cream hotteok is one of the most popular on our menu."
In the meantime, Sammat Hotteok was featured on a number of local media outlets thanks to its tasty food and popularity.
"We also think of customers' health," said Lee and his sister.
"We only use eco-friendly organic ingredients for our food to meet the high standards of our customers."
