A customer looks at Homeplus' new home meal replacement private brand at a Homeplus store in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. (Homeplus)

South Korean discount chain Homeplus said Thursday it will combine its home meal replacement and meal kit product lines for the launch of a new brand called “Homeplus Signature Home Meal” to satisfy consumers’ demand for easy-to-prepare, nutritious meals.

The new brand will offer high-quality products at reasonable prices, according to the retailer.

The product lineup offers hansik, or Korean food, meal kits for at-home diners, as well as meals suitable for camping and as drinking snacks. It also includes meal kits available for purchase exclusively at Homeplus, created in collaboration with Dongwon F&B’s tuna products and popular Los Angeles hansik restaurant Ahgassi Gopchang.

Homeplus officials said its decision to expand its HMR product line came from the recent shift in consumer preferences in favor of reasonably priced, easy-to-prepare meals.

“As the number of consumers looking for cost-effective yet delicious food products is on the rise, consumers are becoming more interested in HMRs sold in supermarkets,” said Homeplus' head of HMR development and support Shim Ho-geun.

“We will prove the competitiveness of large supermarket HMR products in the future by releasing high quality products at reasonable prices, taking consumer preferences into account.”

Meanwhile, the retail chain said its HMR product sales are on the rise, citing company data which showed a 51 percent increase in sales of HMR products from January to October, compared to the same period last year. The company’s data also showed that the number of HMR products it has released increased by 197 percent since 2019.