Dessert and Cafe Trend Update — 2026-04-27
A'TWOSOMEPLACE has achieved record-breaking performance for three consecutive years, accelerating its strategy to expand the dessert category. Meanwhile, Ediya Coffee is targeting the RTD market by completing its 5-product PET coffee lineup. Across the domestic cafe and dessert industry, products featuring exotic ingredients like Ube, pistachio, and Dubai chocolate are leading the seasonal trends.
Dessert and Cafe Trend Update — 2026-04-27
Today's New Menu Highlights
Ediya Coffee — Launches 2 new PET coffee products, completing a 5-product lineup
- Category: Beverage (RTD/PET)
- Launch Date: April 23, 2026 (Permanent)
- Key Features: Introduced the "Triple Low Sugar Latte" and "Triple Decaf Americano," rounding out a 5-product PET coffee range. The products focus on health-conscious positioning, targeting both low-sugar and decaf demand.
- Why it matters: This move is seen as a strategic step by Ediya, which has faced stagnant growth between the rise of budget coffee franchises and premium brands, to secure new revenue streams through the RTD market.
Paris Baguette — Opens "Cafe de Dessert," a dessert-specialized store
- Category: Bakery / Dessert-specialized store
- Launch Date: April 2026 (Expansion planned for the second half)
- Key Features: Opened "Cafe de Dessert," a new store concept infused with Parisian vibes. It emphasizes a premium dessert environment that differentiates itself from standard Paris Baguette locations.
- Why it matters: The fact that the nation's No. 1 bakery franchise is separating and specializing its dessert category into standalone stores is a direct response to the surge in demand for premium desserts.
Knotted, A'TWOSOMEPLACE, Starbucks — Expanding Ube-based products
- Category: Dessert / Beverage
- Launch Date: Around April 19, 2026 (varies by brand)
- Key Features: Desserts and beverages using "Ube," a purple yam from the Philippines, are being released across various cafe and dessert brands. Their vibrant purple color and exotic flavor are spreading rapidly, fueled by SNS visual trends.
- Why it matters: Following the booms of Dubai chocolate and pistachio, this continues the trend of "exotic ingredients." It reaffirms that visual appeal and unique flavors are key factors driving consumer purchases among the MZ generation.
Franchise Trends
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A'TWOSOMEPLACE: Achieved record-breaking results for three consecutive years with 582.4 billion KRW in revenue and 36.3 billion KRW in operating profit for 2025 (+12% revenue and +11% operating profit YoY). However, the slower growth of operating profit compared to revenue remains a challenge. The company stated it is "expanding demand through category growth."
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Ediya Coffee: Despite its 25th anniversary, the company has lost its No. 1 spot in store count and is seeing a decline in major management metrics. It is experiencing a "middle-positioning" crisis between budget brands (Mega Coffee, Compose Coffee) and premium brands (Starbucks, A'TWOSOMEPLACE), seeking a breakthrough in the PET and RTD markets.
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Mega MGC Coffee & Paul Bassett: Joined the new product competition on April 23 as part of the "New Products of the Day" lineup. Please check the original source for specific product details.
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April Brand Reputation: According to the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, Starbucks ranked 1st in coffee brand reputation, followed by Mega Coffee (2nd) and A'TWOSOMEPLACE (3rd).
Convenience Store & Bakery New Products
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Paris Baguette — Cafe de Dessert stores: Launched as a premium dessert-specialized space with a Parisian feel. It is viewed as the signal for full-scale "dessert cafe" specialization strategies in the domestic bakery market.
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Ediya Coffee — 2 PET Latte & Americano types: The "Triple Low Sugar Latte" and "Triple Decaf Americano" will be supplied through retail channels like convenience stores, completing the 5-product system.
Today's Trend Keywords
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Ube: The purple yam from the Philippines is emerging as a new super-ingredient in the domestic cafe and dessert industry. Major brands like Knotted, A'TWOSOMEPLACE, and Starbucks are leading the trend. It is the result of combining visual-centric SNS consumption patterns with interest in exotic flavors.
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RTD/PET Coffee War: As cafe visit frequency stagnates, the RTD (Ready To Drink) market in convenience stores and marts is seeing a rebound. In addition to Ediya's 5-product PET lineup, the industry is accelerating the launch of RTD products emphasizing functionality like low-sugar, decaf, and high-protein.
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Specialized Dessert Store Separation: Strategies like Paris Baguette's "Cafe de Dessert" to separate and specialize desserts are spreading. The 2026 KIBA (Korea International Bakery Fair) also confirmed the strengthening of "K-Bakery" competitiveness, covering frozen dough, smart equipment, and premium raw ingredients.
Global Comparison
In the global market, Starbucks popularized the Dubai chocolate trend on January 6, 2026, by launching the "Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha" and "Iced Dubai Chocolate Matcha." Both drinks are topped with pistachio cream cold foam, combining three mega trends: pistachio, Dubai chocolate, and matcha. The domestic market shows similar "exotic ingredient" flows, with global-to-local trend alignment accelerating. However, the difference is that the Korean market has an "Asian filtering" process that adopts Asian ingredients like Ube first.
Events to Watch Next Week
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KIBA 2026 (Korea International Bakery Fair): Held in April 2026 (ongoing). A key professional event showcasing comprehensive K-Bakery solutions—from frozen dough to smart equipment—providing a glimpse into the direction of future products.
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2026 Seoul Coffee Expo (Ended April 15-19, watch for follow-up trends): New ingredients, desserts, and bakery products introduced under the slogan "Blend the World" are expected to hit the market in earnest starting in May.
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Paris Baguette 'Cafe de Dessert' expansion: If additional store opening schedules are confirmed after the first branch, it could become a major variable that reshapes the competitive structure of the premium bakery dessert cafe market.
Reader Action Items
- Menu Planners: Since the Ube, pistachio, and Dubai chocolate trends are all moving in parallel, try developing "fusion signature drinks" that combine these three ingredients to maximize SNS visual competitiveness. Specifically, if you pair these with low-sugar or decaf versions—like Ediya's PET line—you can capture health-conscious consumers as well.
- Cafe Operators: Benchmark Paris Baguette's "Cafe de Dessert" by considering an interior renewal that separates the dessert corner into a distinct visual space. Even for small cafes, promoting 1-2 signature desserts made with Ube or pistachio via OMO (Online-Merge-Offline) methods can help boost the average check size.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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