Edward Lee shows the Edward Lee Chef Collection for Mom's Touch during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Mom's Touch

Celebrity chefs are rolling up their sleeves to infuse their culinary ideas into new menu items for major burger brands in Korea.

The franchise companies are banking on their new creations, endorsed by famous faces, to capture attention. This is part of their strategy to thrive in the fiercely competitive burger market and attract more attention.

Mom's Touch on Tuesday unveiled its new food items developed by Edward Lee, a finalist from last year's Netflix series "Culinary Class Wars." The menu now features a fried chicken dish and two new burgers featuring bourbon sauce and bacon jam as signature ingredients. These creations were developed by the Korean American chef, who draws strong inspiration from Southern U.S. cooking.

Lee currently runs fine-dining restaurants and more casual dining restaurants in Kentucky and Washington.

"People in Korea watched me on TV only cooking fancy dishes. But I invest as much energy into casual recipes," Lee said during a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday.

Lee said he chose to collaborate with Mom's Touch because the company had the largest number of restaurants among burger franchises in the country — 1,450 as of this month. He noted that he wants to share his food with as much of the Korean public as possible.

"Many Koreans told me they want to come to my restaurant and taste my dishes but I do not have a restaurant here. I cannot hold a pop-up dinner for thousands of guests, either, which is impossible to do. So I have chosen this collaboration," Lee said.

"I did not want to use typical Korean sauces like 'gochujang' (spicy red hot pepper paste) because that would not be unique. I wanted to bring the flavor of the United States with a twist to cater to Korean consumers' taste buds."

Mom's Touch will start selling the Edward Lee Chef Collection on Feb. 18 starting with restaurants in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.

Kwon Sung-jun, the winner of "Culinary Class Wars" under the stage name Napoli Matfia, also teamed up with Lotteria for the country's quick service restaurant (QSR) market.

His signature burgers for the QSR subsidiary of Lotte GRS are two kinds of mozzarella cheeseburgers. Their key ingredients are basil, tomato and mozzarella cheese which, according to Lotteria, represent the flavors of Italy and Kwon's culinary style. Lotteria, which runs the second-largest number of restaurants in the country, launched the new offerings last week.

Models show Napoli Matfia Mozarella Burgers at one of Lotteria's restaurants in Seoul, Thursday. Between the models is a life-size cutout of Kwon Sung-jun, or Napoli Matfia, who created the new burgers. Yonhap

Kwon runs an Italian fine-dining restaurant in western Seoul. Following his victory in the Netflix show, he also collaborated with BGF Retail to launch precooked meal products exclusively for its CU convenience store chain, which is the largest in the country.

Earlier this month, KFC Korea launched a commercial for its new product, which stars chef Choi Hyun-seok. KFC's new dishes include two variations of a fried rice bucket topped with chopped chicken tenders and signature sauces.

The renowned chefs joined commercials and recipe development for the major burger franchise brands here as the domestic QSR market is fiercely competitive.

The competition is no longer limited to the market's largest and most popular brands like McDonald's, Burger King, Mom's Touch and Lotteria. Premium brands like Shake Shack, Five Guys, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, Super Duper and Jaggers have also opened stores in Korea, fueling local demand for expensive, high-end burgers.

Frank Burger, another domestic franchise claiming to offer authentic American-style premium burgers, surpassed the milestone of 700 restaurants in June and signed an official partnership with English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in October. There are also more affordable products available at convenience stores and through franchise brands, such as No Brand Burger, which is owned by Shinsegae Food.

Among these brands, those advertised by popular chefs go the extra mile to make high-quality products, as these celebrities possess both popularity and expertise.

The domestic QSR market remains robust, maintaining a relatively consistent customer base, while other local dine-in restaurants have experienced a significant drop in sales due to rising market prices. The unstable political climate following President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law controversy last month has led to reduced spending, with more people opting for cheaper food options offered by QSR brands.

QSR industry experts stated that differentiating one's self from the competition is key to survival, and hiring chefs from "Culinary Class Wars" helps achieve that goal.

"Lotteria is expected to register sales of 1 trillion won ($700 million) in 2024 due to its products that successfully distinguished themselves from their rival products," a QSR franchise company official said. Lotteria last saw its sales surpass 1 trillion won in 2017.

"Unlike in the past, survival in the domestic burger market is now impossible without a meaningful change. The companies' collaboration with celebrity chefs will likely continue this year."