With muggy weather arriving early in North Korea this year, street vendors are profiting handsomely from surging demand for cool drinks and ice cream.
A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that soft drink vendors in busy parts of Anju — train station plazas, truck stops and residential neighborhoods — are laughing all the way to the bank. The vendors are making more in a single day than ordinary market vendors typically make in a month.
“This is the most profitable time of year for people running soft drink stands. Even though it’s exhausting to be in the scorching heat all day, vendors are excited and grateful for summer,” the source said.
There are currently around 200 soft drink stands in Anju. As the sweltering weather continues, sales of seasonal items like barley tea, beer, fruit juice and ice cream have soared. The stalls are bringing in an average of 600,000 North Korean won per day.
Soft drink vendors are taking advantage of the season to offer treats like fruit cups and shaved ice with red bean paste, hoping to entice customers to spend their money.
“Stalls with regular electricity have shaved ice machines and fridges or freezers for keeping drinks cool. Most stalls lack that equipment, though, and have products supplied by the hour — ordering more of what sells and returning what doesn’t,” the source said.
Stalls without electricity still manage to keep fruit and drinks cool using Styrofoam coolers filled with ice cubes or ice packs, the source explained.
Ice cream at the soft drink stands costs between 500 and 3,000 won. Customers reportedly prefer artificially sweetened fruit popsicles over premium products, which are sweeter. That’s partly because customers are price-conscious, but also because overly sweet treats leave people feeling thirsty afterward.
Most treats sold at the stands are homemade, raising questions about ingredients and hygiene, as well as concerns about their healthiness.
“Cool beverages and frozen treats are more popular than ever as we enter summer, but many people worry about products made with artificial sweeteners like saccharin,” the source said. “People sometimes joke that this unseasonable heat is making them spend a big chunk of their monthly wages on things that are bad for their health, like ice cream and soft drinks.”
