Woowa Brothers, which operates Baemin, said on Thursday it will offer a limited-edition drink, 'The City Arirang Red Ade', linked to 'BTS The City Arirang Seoul' as part of its local small business co-prosperity programme, from April 6 to 19. It said the aim is to connect the economic spillover from a large-scale tourism boom to alleyway commercial districts and help expand sales in tangible terms.

The company said it planned the co-prosperity model so that small cafes in Seoul's Jongno-gu and Jung-gu, areas expected to draw many domestic and overseas tourists to coincide with the release of BTS' fifth full-length album 'Arirang', are not left out of the tourism boom.

'The City Arirang Red Ade' uses omija from Mungyeong in North Gyeongsang Province. It was developed with inspiration from the BTS The City Arirang Seoul event being held to mark the release of BTS' fifth album. It is based on a recipe that small cafes can make easily.

Baemin is providing support to remove the financial burden on small business owners. After developing the recipe, it will provide key ingredients such as omija syrup free of charge in full to participating cafes. In connection with the recent sharp rise in raw material costs for packaging, it will provide disposable cups and lids free of charge to cafe owners participating in the event. It will also provide promotional materials such as posters, cup holders, straw picks and menu pops that can be used to decorate inside and outside stores.

It will also run customer discounts through a pickup promotion within the Baemin app. Baemin also marked stores selling the drink with a separate icon on the in-app pickup map.

The company expects to encourage both offline visits and pickup orders at the same time, leading to a tangible effect of increased sales for participating shops.

Jung-hyun Kim (김중현), head of the Sustainable Management Office at Woowa Brothers, said, "We will support the entire process together, from menu development to ingredients and marketing, so small cafes can participate without 부담." He added, "Baemin will continue to find new co-prosperity models so the positive effects of major events help the growth of partners in local commercial districts."