HiteJinro seeks new growth engine in smart farming
Firmmit's smart farming facility in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of HiteJinro
By Kim Jae-heun
HiteJinro is entering the smart farming business in an effort to find a new growth engine for the company, due to its main business reaching the limits of growth.
The country's top beer and soju maker revealed Thursday that it had signed a contract to invest in Firmmit, a local startup company that develops and sells smart farming systems.
“The smart farm industry is growing rapidly, and we have decided to invest in Firmmit because we appreciate its technology, growth potential and expertise in the agricultural sector,” a HiteJinro official said.
Firmmit provides total solutions for smart farming, from selecting crops, designing the facilities for growing them, to delivering the final products to buyers.
It confirmed recently that it is exporting strawberry farming technology in container boxes to Southeast Asia. Firmmit aims to operate in 15 countries and open 30 branches around the world by 2025.
“In this turbulent market environment, we will continue to look for competitive startups in various fields, while receiving investment proposals directly from companies, in order to expand our business portfolio,” a HiteJinro official said.
In 2019, HiteJinro was selected as the first corporate angel investor, or funder of early startups, among domestic for-profit companies. The alcoholic beverage manufacturer has funded a total of six startups so far.
HiteJinro is not the only firm in its field that is turning its eyes to other types of businesses.
Lotte Chilsung Beverage also acquired 1.61 percent of Bifido's stocks, a local microbiome company that studies the overall genetic information of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the human body, and their connections to health and disease.
Bifido is expanding its scope to functional strains, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, based on its research on bifidobacteria, which is used widely in food and beauty products.
Lotte Chilsung Beverage aims to create synergy by combining Bifido's technology with the research capabilities of Lotte R&D Center.
The country's largest fishing company, Dongwon Industries, spent 6.5 billion won to acquire 10 percent of Salmon Evolution, a Norwegian land-based salmon farm operator. This investment helped Dongwon Industries to open a smart and eco-friendly salmon salmon in Yangyang, Gangwon Province.
“Considering the fact that growth in the domestic market is virtually stagnant and competition among heterogeneous industries is intensifying, ideas for new business and products from outside are a prerequisite,” said Jung Kwang-ho, a professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Administration.