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'The world needs to know the greatness of Korean red ginseng'

President of Baekjehongsam Cho Sung-jung, right, and My Pay President Oh Se-yong pose after signing an MOU to increase cooperation between the two firms at Cho's office in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul, in February. / Courtesy of BaekjehongsamBy Kim Jae-heunIt was not long ago when Cho Sung-jung, president of Baekjehongsam, decided to open his red ginseng business. Prior to starting his business, Cho was just a typical businessman at a trading company who didn't think twice about starting his own business, until learning about the mass health benefits of Korean red ginseng.“It's been almost nine years since I started this business. It all started when I purchased red ginseng from my daughter. The product made me curious about the herbal remedies that could be received from red ginseng, so I read a book about it,” Cho said during an interview with The Korea Times, Thursday.“There are different types of red ginseng out there in the world but Korean ginseng is the best. American ginseng is popular in Hong Kong but it is incomparable to Korean ginseng.” Cho said.K

Apr 16, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
'The world needs to know the greatness of Korean red ginseng'
Companies

Coupang to seek new investors amid SoftBank's difficulties

SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son, left, shakes hands with Coupang founder and CEO Kim Bom in this 2018 file photo. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunThe country's largest online retailer Coupang may seek new investors as its main one, SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) led by Masayoshi Son, is floundering following the collapse of British satellite telecom company OneWeb and the coronavirus pandemic that continues to hurt Indian hotel chain startup Oyo. According to a local securities firm analyst, it won't be difficult for Coupang to receive funding from different investors as it showed the possibility recently of improving its profitability. The analyst also mentioned the possibility of the online retailer's initial public offering, but he said not to bet on SVF's exit from Coupang.Coupang finally cut its decifit by 36.1 percent over the last year to record an operating loss of 720.5 billion won ($592.51 million). At the same time, it achieved its highest sales making 7.15 trillion won ($5.88 billion) in the same period, rising to the position of top player in online retailing. Coupang's busines

Apr 15, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Coupang to seek new investors amid SoftBank's difficulties
Companies

Binggrae to expand global business with Haitai Icecream

By Kim Jae-heunBinggrae CEO Jeon Chang-wonFor quite a long time, local confectionery titan Binggrae has been stagnating as the No.2 player in the saturated ice cream market and its strenuous effort to take the top position has not been a success. Binggrae's recent acquisition of Haitai Icecream has helped the firm to achieve its goal to overtake Lotte Confectionery and its further aim to expand its global business, the sales of which are still recording double figure growth. Binggrae made headway in the global market with its steady-seller “Melona,” which is a melon-flavored ice pop but it lacked the diversity in its ice cream products required to grow its presence outside of the country.Haitai Icecream owns various popular ice cream items including “Bravo Cone,” “Babambar” and “Nougatbar,” which Binggrae expects will beef up its overseas exports.Binggrae CEO Jeon Chang-won also stressed the importance of diversifying its range of ice cream products to increase its presence in the global market. “We should not be satisfied at pres

Apr 15, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Binggrae to expand global business with Haitai Icecream
Companies

New seventh generation Avante

Hyundai's seventh generation Avante is seen in this file photo. The local carmaker will launch the new model of the bestselling medium-sized sedan next month. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Apr 14, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
New seventh generation Avante
Companies

Can 'Lotte ON' survive in competition against Coupang and SSG.com?

By Kim Jae-heunLotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-binLotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin recently said that the future of his retail business depends on the success of its digital transition. The chairman hopes that newly-launched platform “Lotte ON,” which combines all seven of the group's online shopping malls, will be a game-changer for the group.However, the company has some challenges ahead.First of all, many retail industry insiders point out that Lotte On needs to provide a differentiated service to those of already existing e-commerce platforms.Lotte ON only gathers existing online platforms such as Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart and Lotte Home Shopping, allowing customers to compare the prices of the item they wish to purchase. This open market concept has been adopted by most e-commerce firms for a decade and it gives customers no incentive to use Lotte ON instead of more established online platforms such as Coupang or SSG.com. Secondly, Lotte Group will have to offer good prices to steal customers from its competitors. However, it is difficult for a listed compa

Apr 14, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Can 'Lotte ON' survive in competition against Coupang and SSG.com?
Companies

Another 'plot' by Woowa Brothers?

Baedal Minjok's server robot Dilly is seen in a restaurant in Seoul in this 2019 file photo. / Courtesy of Woowa BrothersBy Kim Jae-heunOnline food delivery application Baedal Minjok (Baemin), operated by Woowa Brothers, said Monday it will provide free rentals of server robot Dilly to 50 restaurants starting mid-April for two months.Woowa Brothers said the program aims to support businesses  struck hard by COVID-19, but it is also seen as an attempt to restore its reputation impaired from the recent introduction of a new fee system that provoked a backlash for allegedly increasing commission fees.Woowa is also hoping to expand its server robot business in the food service industry.Now is good timing as barely any local firms are offering server robot rental services. If restaurant owners prefer the convenience of using robots, they will pay to continue the service subscription after the free trial period is over.Currently, Woowa Brothers’ Baemin sets its subscription price at 900,000 won per month for a two-year contract. The price rises to 1.2 million won per month if a

Apr 14, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Companies

Coupang becomes No.1 online retailer

Coupang CEO Kim Bom / Courtesy of CoupangBy Kim Jae-heunCoupang became Korea's No.1 online retailer in the first quarter of 2020 surpassing eBay Korea's Gmarket according to Nielson Korea, which collected data on the business performance of online shopping firms up to the first week of March. The market research firm said Coupang led the market with a share of 24.6 percent, up 6.5 percentage points from the same period last year. Gmarket's market share also increased from 19.1 percent to 19.7 percent but it failed to match Coupang and yielded the top position.Retail business analyzing service WISEAPP/WISERETAIL noted that in February, Coupang's turnover recorded 1.63 trillion won, surpassing the 1.44 trillion won of eBay Korea. Coupang's “Rocket Delivery” service played a pivotal role in improving its business performance amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has led people to self-quarantine at home.Coupang is the only firm that can deliver orders in half a day and the service has attracted many customers who want fresh food ingredients to cook at home to choose it ove

Apr 13, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Coupang becomes No.1 online retailer
Companies

Binggrae to achieve 1 tril. won revenue this year

Binggrae's headquarter in Seoul / Courtesy of BinggraeBy Kim Jae-heunThe country's No.2 snack maker Binggrae is likely to achieve a 1 trillion won sales breakthrough this year after acquiring Haitai Icecream, the No.4 player in the market. Binggrae's revenue has stagnated in the 800 billion won range for almost eight years since it first recorded 790 billion in 2012. The confectionery titan has been satisfying in its comfort zone with steady sellers like “Together,” “Melona” and “B.B.BIG” but it fell short of the 13-digits threshold. It did made efforts to establish a strategic alliance with overseas companies to import popular frozen treats and develop a premium line called “Cled'or,” but they were not enough. However, Binggrae's acquisition of Haitai Icecream is not only expected to give them over 1 trillion revenue but also put them in the top position according to market share. Last year, Binggrae and Haitai Icecream's sales recorded 878.3 billion won and 150.7 billion won, respectively. Simply adding the two numbers equals to 1.29

Apr 11, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Binggrae to achieve 1 tril. won revenue this year
Companies

Woowa Brothers to drop controversial new fee system

Lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea hold a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 1, urging Korea's antitrust regulator to carry out an impartial evaluation of Delivery Hero and Woowa Brothers' $4 billion M&A deal. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunWoowa Brothers, the operator of the country's top online food delivery player Baedal Minjok (Baemin), said Friday it will drop its recent new fee system that provoked backlash from both restaurant owners and customers.In a statement released through email, Woowa Brothers founder Kim Bong-jin and CEO Kim Bom-jun said the company will nullify the fixed rate system and go back to the flat rate. “We are sorry for the difficulties and confusion we created with the new fee system. It was a decision that did not thoughtfully consider the hardships that restaurant owners would possibly face. We have received advice and opinions from various sectors and they all said we should re-examine our new commission fee rate. We have accepted the advice and decided to cancel our new fee system,” Woowa Brothers wrote in th

Apr 10, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
Woowa Brothers to drop controversial new fee system
Companies

'Woowa Brothers' overrated $4 bil. sale price'

Founder of Woowa Brothers Kim Bong-jin poses in this 2018 file photo. / Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jinBy Kim Jae-heunLast December, when German-based firm Delivery Hero announced its decision to acquire Woowa Brothers, the operator of the country's top online food delivery app Baedal Minjok (Baemin), there were those who thought the valuation of the Korean firm was “too high.”Woowa's assumption in terms of calculating the estimated valuation was simple, according to industry officials. Only 6.4 percent of people in the country used the mobile application, according to a 2018 survey studying food consumption trends and that the online food delivery service has a bright future ahead. An industry source said Woowa Brothers had planned to increase its commission charge for the platform fee from the very beginning in an apparent effort “to reduce the gap between its sale price and the market value.” However, its new fee system has backfired provoking restaurant owners who are suffering economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.The suggested merger proposal by Deliv

Apr 9, 2020By Kim Jae-heun
'Woowa Brothers' overrated $4 bil. sale price'
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