Hotels turn bingsu into summer's splurge

Consumer sentiment is weak, the economy is shaky, yet Seoul's luxury hotels are charging up to 149,000 won ($100) for shaved ice. Demand has never been stronger.

The priciest offering this summer again comes from Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. At 149,000 won, the Maru Jeju Apple Mango Bingsu contains more than two whole Jeju apple mangoes piled on shaved organic milk ice, topped with a hollow mango sphere that breaks open to release a mango-elderflower sauce. Mango-coated rice cake and white chocolate garnishes fill out the bowl.

Despite the high price points, hotel bingsu continues to draw steady demand, buoyed by a small luxury trend among consumers in their 20s and 30s.

"Even amid economic uncertainty and weakened consumer sentiment, hotel bingsu remains a representative experiential summer dessert," Four Seasons Hotel Seoul told The Korea Herald. The hotel said high-priced bingsu is increasingly seen less as a simple dessert and more as a way to enjoy the season and share a special moment.

Early May sales have outpaced the same period last year, the hotel said. Customers are mostly in their 30s, with Koreans making up the largest share, followed by hotel guests and foreign visitors. The share of customers in their 20s rises on weekends.

Signiel is going for outright opulence. Its Signature Mango Bingsu arrives dusted with edible gold leaf, a flourish more often seen on fine dining dishes than on a bowl of shaved ice. Underneath the gilding sit thick mango slices, frozen milk shavings, mango puree and popping mango pearls, with mango sherbet, red bean paste and mascarpone sauce on the side. The bingsu costs 135,000 won.

Mango bingsu sales at Signiel have continued to climb on the back of the small luxury trend. Signiel Busan reported a roughly 20 percent on-year rise in mango bingsu sales last year, while Signiel Seoul recorded a 5 percent gain.

With so many hotels chasing the same summer crowd, standing out increasingly means selling something beyond the bingsu itself. Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas is leaning on presentation. Its new Jewel Tomato Bingsu arrives in a vessel shaped like a traditional Korean mother-of-pearl jewelry box, with citron-pickled organic tomatoes scattered over a light sherbet-style ice.

The hotel's Jeju Apple Mango Bingsu costs 120,000 won. The Signature Patbingsu and Jewel Tomato Bingsu are 75,000 won each.

Other hotels are reaching for the bar cart. Sofitel Ambassador Seoul has paired its bingsu with champagne. The new Citron Basil Bingsu mixes olive and lemon confit with basil milk ice, champagne sorbet and vanilla ice cream. It is 70,000 won on its own, or 100,000 won as a set with two glasses of Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel Brut.

The returning Mango Bingsu Secret, at 100,000 won, hides mango, mango sorbet and Chantilly cream under a domed silver cover that staff lifts at the table.

The Shilla Seoul has built its program around pairings. Its apple mango bingsu is 130,000 won on its own, 162,000 won as a set with two glasses of sparkling wine, or 175,000 won as a set with two mango bourbon fizz cocktails.

Lee Eun-hee, a consumer studies professor at Inha University, said the appeal goes beyond the dessert itself. "If you look at bingsu alone, the price is very high, but younger consumers are paying for the hotel atmosphere, posting about it on social media and engaging in a form of experiential consumption," she said. "It is a case where demand actually rises as prices go up, driven in part by a desire to show off."

Hong Yoo