Culinary Class Wars in Taiwan: A Netflix Korean Variety Show Subjecting Seven Consumer Industries to Taste Stress Tests within 16 Months

30-Second Overview: Culinary Class Wars (흑백요리사) is a culinary competition reality show produced by Netflix in collaboration with South Korea's tvN Studios. Season 1 premiered on September 17, 2024, and concluded on October 8, 2024, spanning 12 episodes¹. The show features massive scale and high drama—80 "Black Spoons" (street food chefs) facing off against 20 "White Spoons" (Michelin-starred and elite chefs), judged by Korean culinary icon Baek Jong-won and Michelin three-star chef Ahn Sung-jae². In its first week, it topped the Netflix non-English language viewership charts in Taiwan³. Over the subsequent 16 months, nine participants implemented collaborations across various Taiwanese industries: convenience store meals, bubble tea, fast food chains, five-star hotel buffets, delivery platforms, Korean food chains, and even a Galaxy Z foldable phone⁴. This article synthesizes the trajectories of these consumer industries during this period and records the resulting food safety controversies.

The Origin of the Show: From Seoul Cooking Competition to Taiwan Viewership Champion

Culinary Class Wars was co-produced by three Korean TV producers: Yoon Hyun-jun, Kim Hak-min, and Kim Eun-ji¹. The competition format itself is the show's greatest selling point: among 100 chefs, 80 "Black Spoons" represent the "underground" route (street food, stalls, school cafeterias, delivery chefs), while 20 "White Spoons" represent the "establishment" route (Michelin-starred, luxury hotels, Korean cuisine masters)². The first round consists of one-on-le blind tastings where judges wear blindfolds to judge solely on taste; this is followed by a 200-minute group battle featuring 100 plates; finally, an 80-minute "cooking on the line" round determines the champion².

The show's viewership success also validates the global influence of Korean variety shows—Season 1 ranked number one on Netflix's global non-English TV charts for three consecutive weeks, accumulating 44 million viewing hours and breaking Netflix reality show records⁵. In the Asian market, it topped the charts in Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong in its first week, entering the top 10 in 28 countries³. For Taiwanese viewers, this is one of the few shows that allowed Korean competitive terms like "Black Spoon" and "White Spoon" to rapidly enter daily vocabulary.

The Season 1 champion was a Black Spoon chef, Kwon Seong-jun, who calls himself the "Napoli Delicious Mafia," winning a prize of 300 million KRW (approximately 7.1 million TWD)⁶. Over a year later, Season 2 premiered on December 16, 2025, and concluded on January 13, 2026; the champion was White Spoon chef Choi Kang-rok (Roy Choi), who defeated "Culinary Monster" Lee Ha-seong with his "Perilla Tofu Soup"⁷.

📝 Curator's Note

As a cultural export product, the true role of "Culinary Class Wars" is a referencable culinary authority market. When Taiwanese brands want to convert the "Korean food craze" into marketable product lines, the show provides a full set of "identity labels"—from Michelin-starred to school cafeteria—that can be directly paired with retail distribution schedules.

16 Months Across Seven Industries: From Café House to Galaxy Z Fold

Three months after the Season 1 launch, the first wave of collaborations emerged simultaneously within December 2024. The Doufu Food Group held its first internal culinary competition, "Black and White Duel," on December 2, inviting Season 1 White Spoon Michelin one-star chef Kim Do-yun and Chef Aki to serve as final judges; the champion, White Spoon chef Huang Yu-wei, won a 100,000 TWD prize with his "Braised Pork Tofu Gold Brick"⁸. Kim Do-yun's limited-time dish, "Hand-cut Blanched Pork Belly," was sold exclusively from December 10 to 31 across five Doufu brands: Juantofu, Beicun Doufujia, Jiangmantang, Patajia, and Kim's Little Kitchen⁸.

Later that same month, on December 13, Grand Hyatt Taipei's Café House launched a Korean Food Festival (running until December 30), inviting Season 1 Black Spoon "cafeteria expert" Lee Mi-young to appear in person for meals on the 13th and 14th⁹. Her role in the show was not one of traditional fine dining glamour—she represented the ritualistic presence of Korean school lunches. Café House's presentation faithfully replicated this: "Spicy Cabbage," "Meat-wrapped Vegetables," and "Spicy Beef Soup" were served on iron trays to restore the unique culinary fun of classic Korean school meals⁹. Reservations were fully booked within seconds on the first day of availability⁹.

Later in the month, the bubble tea brand Shi-Sheng (十盛) launched a limited-edition drink, "Thickly Brewed Rice Mochi," in collaboration with Season 1 Black Spoon Kim Tae-seong, using round-trip tickets between Taiwan and Korea as a promotional incentive¹⁰.

✦ Within three months, the chefs of Culinary Class Wars simultaneously entered Taiwan's Korean food chains, five-star hotels, and bubble tea shops—three unrelated industry channels, sharing the same set of show assets.

At 5:00 PM on January 11, 2025, the delivery platform foodpanda launched a collaboration zone featuring Season 1 White Spoon Executive Chef Choi Hyun-seok (with 30 years of culinary experience) from "CHOIDOT." The zone featured two dishes: "(With Garlic, I Remember) Garlic Clam Pasta" for 430 TWD and "Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup" for 495 TWD¹¹. The sales period lasted until March 25, limited to eight pickup locations across Taiwan, including Xinyi, Neihu, Datong, Sanchong, Xinzhuang, Zhongli, Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, and Donghai in Taichung¹¹. On the same afternoon, Choi Hyun-seok hosted a "Cooking on the Line" show at Breeze Nan Shan, personally cooking Garlic Clam Pasta for pandapro users—the replicability of delivery orders and the irreplicability of department store pop-ups complemented each other on the same day¹².

On February 20, the "Kaifanchuan" brand under the Erudition Group announced its first international R&D collaboration, inviting Season 1 White Spoon "Queen of Hong Kong Dim Sum" Jung Ji-sun. The partnership lasted approximately five months, with Jung Ji-sun flying between Taiwan and Korea more than six times¹³. Two limited dishes—"Spicy Creamy Golden Shrimp Balls" (delicate spring roll skin wrapped around fresh shrimp with spicy cream sauce) and "Nest Caramel Pumpkin Pudding" (using a sugar-pulling technique to create golden sugar threads)—were sold exclusively for dine-in at Kaifanchuan locations across Taiwan¹³.

On May 15, Laya Burger launched a collaborative breakfast period with Season 1 White Spoon Korean-American chef Edward Lee (running until August 6), featuring four products spanning rice burgers, hamburgers, bibimbap, and spicy rice cakes: "Edward Lee's Korean Bibimbap Rice Burger" for 115 TWD, "Edward Lee's Korean Grilled Beef Chicago Burger" for 109 TWD, "Chef's Choice x Korean BBQ Bibimbap" for 160 TWD, and "Chef's Choice x Korean Spicy Rice Cakes" for 60 TWD¹⁴. On June 17, an additional bottled "Edward Lee Sauce (bibimjang)" was released¹⁵, with the Laya NOW app offering a chance to win a dinner for two at SHIA (the modern Korean restaurant operated by Edward Lee in D.C.) plus round-trip flights to the US¹⁴.

From June 26 to August 31, Season 1 White Spoon chef Jun Lee (founder and Executive Chef of Seoul's doughroom, formerly of New York's three-star Per Se) brought his brand doughroom to Taiwan for the first time, setting up a pop-up restaurant at the Kitchen Exploration at Le Méridien Taipei[^1rightarrow]. Jun Lee personally presided over the pop-up for four days from June 26 to 29¹⁶. Signature dishes included Shrimp Squid Angel Hair Pasta, Italian Potato Gnocchi, JUN LEE Caesar Salad, and Devil's Roasted Chicken with Braised Vegetables. Prices started at 1,690 TWD (plus 10%) for lunch/dinner, increasing to 2,080 TWD (plus 10%) during the period when the chef was personally present¹⁶.

The rhythm of this period showed the Taiwanese catering industry a new, temporary, but structurally complete way of operating: from daily-limited chain snacks to five-star hotel guest pop-ups, the Culinary Class Wars chefs became "industry currency" capable of spanning different price points.

Crossing Food Boundaries: Ahn Sung-jae × Galaxy Z Fold7

On July 16, 2025, Samsung Electronics Taiwan unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, announcing on the same day that Culinary Class Wars judge and Korean Michelin three-star chef Ahn Sung-jae would serve as a brand ambassador¹⁷. Samsung Taiwan announced an annual sales target growth of 30% compared to the previous generation, using a cross-industry narrative involving "Star Chefs × Luxury Hotels × Premium Airlines" by arranging collaborations between Ahn Sung-jae, the Regent Taipei, and Starlux Airlines¹⁸.

The marketing copy juxtaposed Ahn Sung-jae's culinary philosophy with the foldable phone's design language: he used a "culinary professional's perspective to deconstruct daily technology," reviewing the phone's "foldable appetizer" and praising the color and depth of the 200-megapixel camera¹⁹. This was the only non-food industry collaboration among the nine cases in Taiwan—a phone endorsement does not require a kitchen, sauces, or a seasonal menu; it only requires the "authoritative language of the words 'Michelin three-star'."

📝 Curator's Note

The significance of Ahn Sung-jae entering the 3C (computer, communications, and consumer electronics) industry extends beyond a single endorsement. It defines the maximum range of the Culinary Class Wars IP in Taiwan—when a judge who appeared less than 10 times in the show can be used to endorse a foldable phone, it signifies that the authority of this IP has moved beyond the original realm of "cooking" into the level of an "assignable symbol of taste." Among the seven industries, food accounted for six, and the foldable phone for one—but the significance of that one is proof that this IP can extend across categories.

The Stress Test: The 20-Month Trajectory of the Shi-Sheng Brand

The most noteworthy event to record in depth is the exit trajectory of the bubble tea brand "Shi-Sheng" (十盛), which was endorsed by Kim Tae-seong.

Shi-Sheng was founded in Taipei on April 12, 2024, by influencers Ji Bu-xin and Xiao Wu, focusing on "Hokkaido Aged Milk Tea"²⁰. Less than four months after opening, on July 20, 2024, the Consumer Foundation (CF) publicly named Shi-Sheng for "unclear milk source labeling"—the official website only stated "Hokkaido Milk," and the shop refused to disclose the brand of milk; the company later admitted to using "aged raw milk combined with Taiwan Uni-President fresh milk, where the aged raw milk formula includes imported Hokkaido milk powder and creamer"²⁰. On August 8, 2024, Shi-Sheng announced it would remove the word "aged" from its branding and rebuild its official website²¹.

Against this backdrop, while the brand controversy had not yet fully subsided, Shi-Sheng launched a collaboration with Kim Tae-seng in December 2024 for the "Thickly Brewed Rice Mochi" drink—leveraging the prestige of the Korean variety show chef to capture the show's momentum¹⁰. The collaboration period did indeed create long queues, but the narrative structure had changed: after July 2024, in the eyes of some Taiwanese consumers, Shi-Sheng shifted from a "trendy bubble tea shop" to a "brand tested by the Consumer Foundation"²⁰.

The situation became clearer in 2025. Starting in May, Shi-Sheng "closed three stores in Taipei and New Taipei City at once"; by early December 2025, only the Zhongzheng store in Taoyuan remained²². On December 26, 2025, the final Zhongzheng store closed, marking a total brand lifespan of 20 months[^24].

⚠️ Media Reporting Discrepancy

Mainstream media outlets such as Mirror Media and ETtoday did not mention the Kim Tae-seong collaboration in their reports on Shi-Sheng's exit, focusing instead on the brand flaws of the influencer founders. Conversely, NOWnews and Newtalk included "bringing in Kim Tae-seng last December" within the causal timeline of the event²³. This difference reflects a discerning attitude among Taiwanese media when facing "Korean variety show chef endorsements": Kim Tae-seting was the collaborator, not the brand owner; the Consumer Foundation tested Shi-Sheng's milk source labeling, not Kim Tae-seong's cooking.

For Taiwanese consumers, the lesson of the Shi-Sheng incident extends beyond a single brand: when "show popularity" and "food safety controversy" coexist, should people still wait in line? These 20 months from 2024 to 2025 represent Taiwan's first systematic risk assessment of the phrase "Korean variety show chef endorsements."

Coincidental Simultaneity: Baek Jong-won Scandal and 7-ELEVEN Launch

Another tension occurred even faster in December 2025. Season 2 premiered on December 16, immediately hitting number one on Netflix's global non-English TV charts (up 25% from the previous week)[^2 6]. However, at that same time, Season 2 judge Baek Jong-won himself was embroiled in a series of scandals: false product origin labeling, extremely low meat content in ham, citrus beer containing almost no citrus, and the use of industrial-grade cookware during food festivals while claiming it to be food-grade²⁴. Netflix chose not to replace him, citing that the show involved 100 chefs and 300 staff members²⁴.

In this window, just eight days after the Season 2 launch on December 24, 2025, 14 types of Korean-style ready-to-eat meals from a collaboration between Taiwan's 7-ELEVEN and Baek Jong-won officially hit the shelves, following nearly six months of cooperation²⁵.

Key terms in the press release included: "carefully selected direct-from-Korea sauces," "delicious recipes supervised by Baek Jong-won," and "Baek Jong-won'ably collaborating with overseas convenience stores for the first time"²⁶. Representative products included Korean hamburger patty pink sauce risotto, spicy beef creamy pasta, spicy pork bibimbap, Korean beef bibimbap, glutinous rice ginseng chicken soup, Korean spicy cheese rice cake pressed toast, Korean fish cake skewers, Korean glazed fried chicken, and a New Extreme Onigiri (Korean sea and land sauce flavor), along with drinks like orange grapefruit black tea²⁵.

The collaboration happened. Taiwanese consumers received the products. Yet, at the same time, the name of this judge was undergoing a different "trial" in Korean and international media. This coexistence reflects the structural limitations of collaboration timelines in the IP era: retail distribution schedules are set six months in advance, and changes in content-side reputation cannot keep pace.

Why These 9 Cases Occurred Within 16 Months

If you place these nine events on a single timeline, a clear rhythm emerges:

These nine events are distributed over 16 months, averaging one new implementation every 1.4 months. The most intensive period was December 2024—Kim Do-yun × Doufu, Lee Mi-young × Grand Hyatt, and Kim Tae-seong × Shi-Sheng all occurred in the same month. For Taiwanese consumers entering convenience stores, five-star hotels, or bubble tea shops that month, the Culinary Class Wars IP appeared simultaneously across three unrelated channels.

Visiting, Not Moving In

None of the nine chefs moved to Taiwan; no Taiwanese person can say, "He is ours." They temporarily settled into the lives of Taiwanese consumers through show ratings, retail schedules, and brand marketing budgets—their arrival was via flavors, products, endorsements, and queues, though their physical presence never arrived.

This is a new model of cultural flow in the latter half of the 2020s: The people do not come; the IP arrives. Its speed is faster than any previous form of cultural export—K-dramas require adaptation rights, K-Pop requires concert tours, and Korean food requires physical restaurants, but Korean variety shows only need a Netflix global launch and local retail scheduling. A single season can bring nine names into seven industries within just three months.

Because it is fast, it is also short-lived. No collaboration is permanent: Kim Tae-seong's endorsed Shi-Sheng has exited; Edward Lee's Laya collaboration ended after August 6; Jun Lee's pop-up ended on August 31; and Lee Mi-young's Korean food festival lasted only half a month. When Season 3 arrives (if it does), new names will enter, channels will reschedule, and the 16-month cycle will begin again.

But one thing will remain: between 2024 and 2026, Taiwanese consumers saw the names of Culinary Class Wars in convenience stores, five-star hotels, bubble tea shops, delivery platforms, department store pop-ups, Korean food chains, and even on a Galaxy Z Fold. This collective taste memory, combined with the "check ingredients before queuing" reflex brought by the Shi-Sheng incident, will endure much longer than any single collaboration.

Further Reading

• Taiwan Convenience Store Culture — The industrial landscape where the 7-ELEVEN × Baek Jong-won collaboration occurred; understanding the competitive logic of convenience store ready-to-eat meals.
• Taiwan Bubble Tea Culture — The industry context of the Kim Tae-seng × Shi-Sheng collaboration; Taiwan's most powerful exportable beverage battlefield.
• Pearl Milk Tea — The representative symbol of Taiwanese bubble tea, providing a cultural contrast to the Korean-style bubble tea brands that entered during the Culinary Class Wars era.

References