Kim Ah-young poses as a model for Lotte Wellfood's retro campaign for chewing gum products that were popular in Korea in the 1970s. Screen capture from Lotte Wellfood's homepage

Lotte Wellfood's retrospective snack giftset / Screen capture from Lotte Wellfood's homepage

Retro designs on popular food product packaging that hark back to the 1970s are turning consumers' heads, according to industry watchers, Tuesday.

Major food companies have released their long-surviving products under the hit designs with which consumers in their 40s or older may be familiar. The strategy clicks with one of the country's deep-rooted trends in which vestiges of decades-old popularity draw craving from not just the middle-aged group but also those in their teens or 20s who didn't grow up with them but are showing interest.

Lotte Wellfood last month launched a giftset product that was timed with the country's major Korean New Year holiday known as Seollal. Memory-sparking packaging made the product seem as if it had time-traveled from way back to the present. Text font, color, texture and the company's original "smiling sun" logo were all perfectly blended to revive old memories.

Inside the product are eight different bags of snacks that were most popular in the 1970s to 80s, including Ggoggalcorn, Butter Coconut, Lotte Sand and Kancho. The company released the product exclusively for local online platforms.

Previously, in January, the company launched five chewing gum products that were popular from the same past era. In the retro-themed campaign, the brand reintroduced a hit jingle from an old TV ad and hired actor Kim Ah-young as a campaign model, presenting her in a 1970s fashion style.

Ottogi's 3 Minute Retro Curry, left, and 3 Minute Retro Jajang packaging for the Korean market / Screen capture from Ottogi's homepage

"Retro sentiment always evokes memories and creates unique joy for all," a company official said. "And Seollal was the perfect timing to bring that sentiment back."

Ottogi has released 3 Minute Retro Curry and 3 Minute Retro Jajang, pre-cooked microwavable sauce products for steamed rice, which took the products' original package design from 1981. They have become hits and remain sold out as of Tuesday morning on the brand's online mall.

Nongshim's two signature instant noodle products with history, Ansungtangmyun and Chapagetti, have also come out with their old packaging from 1983 and 1984.

"Some consumers are apparently finding retro-packaged products that were seen on shelves in the year they were born," a market expert said.

The companies put rare efforts into restoring these products' packaging by digging through their archives, according to some officials. Long-oudated newspapers, magazines, floppy disks and compact disks provided vital clues. Some digital files in old data storage formats weren't able to be opened properly, while some data remained only in hard copy.

Ottogi, to revive the particular classic texture from its old products, even scanned the products it has been keeping. Lotte trawled YouTube for past commercials and its old sales catalogs to bring back the designs.