A Sweet treatsknown in Korean as heotgae, has become the cornerstone of South Korea’s burgeoning market for hangover remedies that are uncertain whether they actually work. But they are cheap, and for many, that’s enough.
In South Korea, the tradition of socializing after work is, in many cases, around the glass table: colleagues and bosses meet in bars, where rounds of soju toasts go on until exhaustion, and the next day’s hangovers are part of the package.
This deep-rooted ritual of alcoholic conviviality, especially in the professional context, created fertile ground for an industry specialized in tame the excesses of the night before.
The country currently has one of the most dynamic markets in the world for hangover remedies, combining traditional recipes with a wave of new products, designed to alleviate, or at least make it more bearablethe next day.
“Eighteen years ago, people they didn’t even know the name of this ingredient”, says the trader Gil Sa-hyeon58 years old, told the British newspaper , while lifting a bunch of dry, brownish stems. “Now it’s everywhere”.
His store is in the heart of Yangnyeongsi Market in Seoul, the largest food market traditional medicinal herbss of South Korea, where the streets are lined with shops displaying buckets of plants like licorice root and cinnamon bark, overflowing onto the sidewalks and filling the air with their intense, earthy scent.
The ingredient Gil is referring to is Sweet treatsknown in Korean as heotgaethe so-called “oriental raisin tree”, which became the foundation of the prosperous South Korean hangover cure industry.
The South Koreans take hangovers very seriously. For many, the morning-after ritual continues to go through a steaming bowl of haejanggukthe “hangover soup”.
Often made with Pak-Choy cabbage, dried pollock or even clotted ox blood, It is both a comfort meal and a medicine. Many specialized restaurants open early to welcome the usual customers who are still sleepy.
More recently, however, healing has become a business. In any convenience store today there are entire sections dedicated to hangover remedies, from traditional drinks to modern “gelatin sticks” and pills designed to ward off the suffering.
Most of these remedies contain extracts of Sweet treatsalthough some use other ingredients that are credited with beneficial effects, including red ginsengmilk thistle or even seaweed.
According to NielsenIQ Korea, the country’s hangover medicine market in 2024 reached 350 billion won, around 220 million eurosan increase of 10% compared to the previous year.
Despite the growth of this market, South Koreans are, in fact, drinking less: the per capita alcohol consumption has been falling steadily since 2015 and post-pandemic beer and spirits volumes remain below 2019 levels.
Analysts associate this change with a combination of factorsfrom companies that reduced mandatory drinking sessions after work until one younger, health-conscious generationwho prefers moderation to excessive consumption.
The teacher Joo Young-haa cultural anthropologist at the Academy of Korean Studies who specializes in food culture, says the appeal of these anti-hangover products to young consumers It is both social and practical.
“Often buy several products in advance to offer to friends during drinking sessions, transforming hangover prevention into a part of the night etiquette”he explains.
Taeyoung Hwanga market research analyst, states that, although hangover recovery products continue to be a niche on a global scaleSouth Korea and Japan are exceptions.
“Both have mature industries of hangover recovery products, deeply linked to their respective alcohol consumption cultures”says Hwang.
South Korea has launched, in the last 5 yearsmore hangover products than any other country. Many have become “essential daily consumer goods”, with the call “Korean wave” to drive international expansion.
“A global popularity of Korean cultureincluding K-pop and K-food, is fueling interest and driving demand for Korean hangover recovery products in Southeast Asian markets and beyond,” adds Hwang.
A Sweet treats is often promoted as a ancient korean medicine. Many articles guarantee that it has a prominent place in traditional medicine, but experts say that this is often exaggerated.
Although the Sweet treats appears in classical Chinese medicine texts, which historically influenced Korean medical knowledge, was only incorporated into Korean medical literature in later centuries and just recently has become a commercial phenomenon, part of a broader movement that retroactively attempts to attribute traditional health benefits to modern products.
“The interest in Sweet treats for hangover relief it only started in the 1990s, with Japanese patents; only later did Korean scientific research emerge”, he explains to The Guardian Choi Goyaresearcher at the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine.
The medical community generally continues to skeptical of cures for hangovers, although a systematic review from King’s College London identified the fruit extract Sweet treats among several substances that have shown statistically significant results in human trials, albeit with very low quality evidence.
Until recently, Korean companies could make claims about hangover cures without having to present evidencewhich led local regulators to tighten their grip on the sector.
For many, though, these remedies are probably less a matter of scientific certainty and more of comfort, routine and a shared culture around the act of drinking.
Lee So-younga 26-year-old office worker, has been buying anti-hangover products since university. “I don’t know if they really work,” he admits. “But they’re cheap and sometimes I actually feel better. For me, this is enough”.
