Korea’s Top 10 Trend Products of 2026: What Dubai Cookies, GLP-1 and Squishy Toys Reveal About Consumers

Korea’s Trend Korea team picked its top 10 trend products of 2026: semiconductor stocks, “Dubai chewy cookies,” GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, non-alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks, skin boosters, tactile toys, fortune-telling and feng shui services, small-town domestic travel, expos and vintage goods. It looks like a random list, but grouped together it shows four shifts in how Korean consumers are spending.

1. Herd behavior: everyone runs the same way

The KOSPI broke 9,000, pulling money into chip stocks amid extreme volatility. In desserts, open-runs for Dubai chewy cookies were quickly followed by the next fads, butter rice cakes and ube. Demand piles into one thing, then moves on fast — an exploration-driven style of consumption.

2. Self-management spending

GLP-1 drugs are reshaping food, fashion and fitness. Non-alcoholic drinks have become a default choice rather than a substitute, expanding from beer into wine, cocktails and highballs. Skin boosters became a new skincare staple, riding interest in healthy aging.

3. Managing anxiety

Squishy and tactile toys — slime-like squeeze toys, wax balls, keycaps — turned into stress relief for adults. Sales rose in Seoul’s Changsin-dong toy street, and squishy-toy festivals drew crowds. Fortune apps, AI fortune-telling and “good-luck hikes” on Gwanaksan also grew as ways to cope with uncertainty.

4. The joy of discovery

Expos like the Seoul International Book Fair, the Buddhism expo, Coffee Expo and Bakery Fair have become festivals, not just trade shows. Demand for LPs, cassettes and vintage clothing sent shoppers to Hwanghak-dong and Dongmyo flea markets, and small-town travel fits the same pattern: the serendipitous find is the reward.

What it means for marketers

1. Plan for shorter trend cycles. In herd-driven markets, fast limited drops beat big inventory bets.
2. Restraint is still spending. Self-management means spending differently, not less — the alcohol market shows it clearly in Korea Alcohol Consumption Trends: Shipments Hit a 27-Year Low.
3. Design offline experiences for discovery. Pop-ups and events should create chance encounters. A similar shift is covered in How Sports Got Cool Again.