The Korean wave has only been growing in India as Indians are increasingly embracing Korean culture—not just through music and entertainment, but also through food. What began as a fascination with K-dramas and K-pop has gradually made its way into everyday choices. The trend seems to be more pronounced amongst the Millennials and Gen Z.
New internal insights by Swiggy have revealed a similar pattern in food as well, observing that across India, orders placed on the platform for Korean dishes have increased by 50 per cent year-on-year (YoY- July 2025 vs July 2024), signaling clearly that Korean cuisine is fast emerging as a favourite for a large number of Indian consumers, and is no longer preference of a few.
While metro cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad drove bulk of the demand, it’s the growth beyond metros that’s drawing attention. The food ordering platform observed a 59 per cent YoY rise in Korean food orders from emerging markets, with cities such as Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, Mysuru, and Mangaluru emerging as enthusiastic adopters of Korean flavours.
Gen Z, known to quickly embrace emerging global trends, continues to shape consumption patterns across categories—including food. It’s no surprise that their data shows Gen Z accounted for 27 per cent of all Korean food orders on the platform over the past year, making them one of the key drivers behind the cuisine’s growing popularity in India.
Further, search patterns on the platform reflect growing global exposure amongst Indian audiences. “Korean bun,” “Korean cheese bun,” “Korean ramen,” and “Korean chicken” have emerged among the top trending keywords on the platform in the past one year. Leading the list of most-ordered dishes is the Korean McAloo Tikki Burger, followed closely by Korean Corn & Jalapeno Garlic Bread. Others like the Korean Tangy Chicken Roll and Korean Spicy Chicken Burger are also seeing consistent demand. And, it’s not just food—Korean-inspired beverages such as Korean Yuzu-Pop Sprite are also gaining popularity.
These trends indicate a larger shift: Indian consumers are increasingly open to experimenting with international flavours, and brands are responding with offerings that localise global cuisines in accessible and snackable formats. They also reinforce that the demand for Korean food is poised to play a bigger role in shaping India’s modern food landscape.
