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From left, WiniaMando Dimchae ’95, ’03, 2007 models |
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Digging up a kimchi jar buried underground or, if that's too much work, eating aged, sour cabbage relish were pretty much the only options before the days of the kimchi refrigerator. Now ― a decade since its invention ― the new household necessity has emerged as a major appliance on its own, going beyond simple food preservation.
Three major players ― Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and WiniaMando ― are currently competing for the No. 1 spot in the kimchi fridge market that is expected to amount to about 1.5 trillion won this year. Samsung released 25 new models earlier this month, LG introduced 55 and WiniaMando will follow this week.
Although there are more than a dozen kimchi fridge manufacturers today, it was WiniaMando that took the driving seat at the start.
The first-ever manufacturer of the special cooler in 1995 put out ``Dimchae,'' which to this day maintains the highest brand value and recognition.
Although the early models focused primarily on preservation, WiniaMando, quickly joined by Samsung and LG, soon began adding more and more functions where users can select the type of kimchi, temperature and fermentation level as well.
``Customers' needs are constantly changing and those needs are directly applied to our new models,'' said a WiniaMando spokesman, adding that consumers have recently been calling for fridges that come in a smaller size but with equal inner capacity.
Reflecting these needs, makers broke away from the conventional lid-opening model and began selling more ``stand types,'' in which there are both the regular pull-open compartment and pull-out drawer to save space yet increase storage space.
``The foremost focus before was to figure out ways to retain the most perfect temperature for kimchi,'' said Baik Soo-ha, senior manager planning group of Samsung Electronics, explaining that minus 1 degree Celsius is the ideal temperature to keep the cabbages' crisp taste.
However, as consumers began pointing out flaws in the sizeable appliance, Baik said makers started to implement the idea of a ``second refrigerator.''
``Instead of just storing kimchi, a second fridge retains the freshness of vegetables, rice and meat,'' he said. ``Also, mixing both the indirect and direct cooling method helps to maintain a consistent temperature.''
Design, too, has made a leap forward, as famous designers such as Andre Kim and fabric designer Osborne & Little have taken part in upgrading the Samsung Hauzen, said Baik.
``The local kimchi fridge market reached its peak around 2002 and has been declining since then'' said the WiniaMando spokesman. ``But we're optimistic that new models will attract consumers to upgrade their existing ones.''
As the traditional kimchi-making season is approaching in November, manufacturers are preparing to appeal to consumers with their latest coolers, which are priced at around 1.75 to 2.3 million won.
``I can predict more innovative designs and functions to come in the future,'' said Baik. ``But the most important thing is taste, so that's what we'll be mainly concentrating on.''
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr
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