The Korea Times

Consumers alarmed by high sodium, saturated fat in meal-kits

A customer shops for meal kits at a large supermarket in Seoul, Aug. 9, 2021. NewsisBy Kim Jae-heunA 32-year-old office worker surnamed Kim said he has gained 5 kilograms over the past three months since he started eating home meal replacement (HMR) products sold at grocery stores. Kim thought it would be healthier to eat freshly prepared meal-kits rather than offerings sold by convenience stores or fast-food chains.“I never realized how much sodium meal-kit products contained until I started to gain weight uncontrollably. I thought I just wasn't exercising enough. However, after checking the nutritional content on one of the items I ate one evening, I was shocked,” Kim said. “It was the meal kits that made me fat.”According to Consumers Korea, a consumer advocacy group, 11 out of 25 HMR products checked by the organization exceeded the recommended sodium and saturated fat daily intake. Looking at multiple meal kits, the study found that “budae jjigae,” or Korean sausage stew, exceeded the maximum recommended daily standard for sodium of 2,000 mill

May 19, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Consumers alarmed by high sodium, saturated fat in meal-kits

Companies

Samsung chief pays tribute to late UAE president

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong offers condolences to late UAE President Sheik Kahlifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Seoul on Tuesday. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunSamsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong paid a visit to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Seoul, Tuesday, offering condolences for UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who passed away on May 13. Lee is said to have had a cordial relationship with the UAE leader when he was alive, according to industry watchers. The vice chairman also has a special bond with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who took over the leadership after his father collapsed from a stroke in 2014.When the crown prince visited Samsung Electronics' worksite in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in February 2019, Lee personally showed him through the company's production facilities and exhibition halls for 5G technology and semiconductors. Lee also visited Abu Dhabi on Feb. 11, 2019, shortly before the crown prince's visit, and also attended a closed forum held in t

May 18, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Samsung chief pays tribute to late UAE president

Companies

CJ, Ottogi uneasy about Harim's tactics to sell new cooked rice

Harim's The Misik Bap products / Courtesy of HarimBy Kim Jae-heunCJ CheilJedang and Ottogi have expressed dissatisfaction over Harim, which decided to market a new line of ready-to-eat cooked rice by suggesting similar products made by the rival food makers are unhealthy, according to company officials Tuesday.During the launch of its new cooked rice, “The Misik Bap,” on Monday, Harim Holdings CEO Huh Jun said the product is made of water and rice and does not contain acidity modifiers or other additives.“It was additives that gave a unique smell to existing microwave rice products. They contain a pH 4 to pH 6 level of acidity, but Harim's The Misik Bap shows pH 7, which is neutral level,” Huh said. Harim said it only wanted to emphasize that its product does not include any additives, but CJ CheilJedang and Ottogi said it was an obvious case of employing a negative marketing strategy by Harim to give consumers the impression that competitors' products are unhealthy.“Extracts of fine inner bran from rice or acidity modifier included in the microwave rice

May 18, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

CJ, Ottogi uneasy about Harim's tactics to sell new cooked rice

Companies

Kolmar Korea acquires global trademark

Kolmar's global network / Courtesy of Kolmar Korea By Kim Jae-heunKolmar Korea has acquired the global trademark of “Kolmar,” the company said Tuesday. It is the first time that a Korean firm has acquired the original company's brand trademark in the cosmetics industry. The company's original headquarters was based in the United States, where it was first established in 1921. Through this acquisition, Kolmar Korea gained exclusive rights to the Kolmar brand in major global markets. This move will help the Korean branch to expedite business in new markets around the world by reducing the time needed to apply for trademark rights. Kolmar Korea plans to change the name of its U.S. and Canada branches to Kolmar USA and Kolmar Canada, respectively. It is also preparing to set up another overseas branch in Singapore, which the headquarters in Seoul will utilize as a hub to enter the Southeast Asia and the Middle East markets. Kolmar Korea will start by introducing its cos

May 17, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

India's wheat export ban feared to raise prices of bread, instant noodles

A customer picks up a pack of Nongshim's instant noodles at a grocery store in Seoul on July 29, 2021. NewsisBy Kim Jae-heunIndia's wheat export ban has been causing concerns over possible hikes in the prices of instant noodles, bread and other processed products made from the grain in Korea in the coming months, according to industry officials, Monday. India is the world's second-largest wheat exporter after China. Korea imports 51 percent of its milled wheat from the United States and the rest from Canada and Australia. The portion of wheat imported from India is insignificant, thus India's export ban on wheat will not directly affect Korea. However, it is inevitable for the raw material's global price to rise as India is currently suffering from low production of wheat due to the climate crisis. “India is the third-largest producer of wheat in the world, but most of it is consumed locally. It is the eighth-largest exporter of the raw material, so the Indian government's export regulation will have limited effects in the short term. However, if India's export ban continues, i

May 17, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

India's wheat export ban feared to raise prices of bread, instant noodles

Wheat importers in Asia scramble for supplies after Indian export ban

Companies

Naver Webtoon to set up joint venture with Japanese broadcaster TBS

TBS President Takashi Sasaki, second from left, and Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Jun-koo, right, pose after signing an agreement to establish webtoon joint venture Studio Toon at TBS headquarters in Tokyo, on May 12. Courtesy of Naver WebtoonBy Kim Jae-heunNaver Webtoon has agreed to establish a joint venture, “Studio Toon,” together with Japanese broadcasting network TBS and Japanese webtoon producer Shine Partners, the company said on Monday. The headquarters of Studio Toon will be set up in Seoul this month and it will start operating from June. A webtoon is a digital comic published online.The three firms plan to join hands in producing intellectual property (IP) such as webtoons and television dramas. Original content created by Studio Toon will be published on Naver Webtoon's global service platform first and TBS will then make them into TV series.It is the first time TBS has founded a joint venture in Korea. TBS is one of the top five broadcasters in Japan.Naver Webtoon started its webtoon service in Japanese through Line Manga in 2013. The company has established itself

May 16, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Naver Webtoon to set up joint venture with Japanese broadcaster TBS

Companies

KT&G achieves earnings surprise in Q1

By Kim Jae-heunKT&G, the country's largest tobacco company, recorded an earnings surprise in the first quarter of this year thanks to its flourishing overseas business, with robust sales of its heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products and e-cigarettes, the company said Friday.KT&G's sales and operating profit ― excluding the revenue and profit of its subsidiaries ― soared by 11.5 percent and 10 percent, respectively, to reach 844.8 billion won ($665 million) and 272.6 billion won from the same period the year before, according to a regulatory filing.“Our sales expansion of HNB products in both domestic and overseas markets, along with increasing export volume of our traditional tobacco products, led to the growth of the company's total revenue,” a KT&G official said. KT&G sold about 9.54 billion cigarettes in Korea in the first quarter of this year. The figure is a 0.9 percent decrease from the same period last year. However, its market share in this field also increased by 1.2 percentage points to 65.7 percent.

May 13, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

Coupang's operating loss narrows in Q1

By Kim Jae-heunCoupang reduced its operating loss in the first quarter of the year for the first time since it went public in March 2021, while breaking another sales record as well.Coupang founder Kim BomIts operating loss fell to $209.2 million, less than half the $449.7 million (580.1 billion won) reported in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a regulatory filing revealed by the company, Thursday. Korea's largest e-commerce firm's sales showed $5.11 billion between January and March, up by 32 percent from the same period last year. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the sales reached $5.07 billion.“In South Korea, the product e-commerce segment grew 8 percent compared to a year ago, while Coupang's growth rate was nearly four times that, at 30 percent,” Coupang founder Kim Bom said during an earnings call on Wednesday. “There continue to be lots of unpredictable variables in the short term related to the reopening, but the long-term trajectory is very clear to us. In any scenario, we will continue to grow significantly faster than the e-commerce segment and con

May 12, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

Posco International CEO visits Uzbekistan to check global supply chain

Posco International CEO Joo Si-bo, right, poses with Governor Bozorov Hayitbayevich of Fergana region, after discussing plans to establishing raw cotton cluster in Uzbekistan, at the governor's office in Fergana, on May 11. Courtesy of Posco InternationalBy Kim Jae-heunPosco International CEO Joo Si-bo visited Uzbekistan from May 9 to 12 to check the company's global supply chain there, while meeting with Governor Bozorov Hayitbayevich of the region of Fergana to discuss their plans to establish a raw cotton cluster in the Central Asian country, the company said, Thursday. The cotton cluster refers to the Uzbekistan government's project to invite companies to cultivate the crop and establish a stable supply chain.Posco International erected a spinning plant in Uzbekistan, the world's sixth-largest cotton exporter in 1996, and has been operating a total of five manufacturing facilities producing thread and textiles in the regions of Fergana and Bukhara. The company posted a $37-million operating profit last year from its cotton business in Uzbekistan.In March, the trading company also

May 12, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Posco International CEO visits Uzbekistan to check global supply chain

Companies

LG Energy Solution to develop smart factory tech with RIST

LG Energy Solution CPO Kim Myung-hwan, left, shakes hands with the RIST President Nam Soo-hee after signing a memorandum of agreement for joint research at LG Energy Solution's factory in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province, on May 10. Courtesy of LG Energy SolutionBy Kim Jae-heunLG Energy Solution and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST) will start a joint study to develop advanced technologies for smart factories, the company said, Wednesday. The two parties agreed to actively cooperate in researching various cutting-edge technologies including digital twin technology, which implements virtual representations of real-world physical objects or processes and runs simulations to predict possible problems.In addition, LGES will first adopt smart factory-related technologies developed and owned by RIST such as 3D modeling for real facilities using Lidar. Lidar is a detection system which works on the principle of radar, but uses light from a laser. Furthermore, LGES and the RIST will conduct joint research in the fields of remote monitoring and process tec

May 11, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Kim Jae-heun

Read more

Consumers alarmed by high sodium, saturated fat in meal-kits

Samsung chief pays tribute to late UAE president

CJ, Ottogi uneasy about Harim's tactics to sell new cooked rice

Kolmar Korea acquires global trademark

India's wheat export ban feared to raise prices of bread, instant noodles

Naver Webtoon to set up joint venture with Japanese broadcaster TBS

KT&G achieves earnings surprise in Q1

Coupang's operating loss narrows in Q1

Posco International CEO visits Uzbekistan to check global supply chain

LG Energy Solution to develop smart factory tech with RIST

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