Dongwon F&B introduces healthier canned ham

Popular singer Kim Jong-kook holds Dongwon F&B's new canned ham product, Richam Double Light, in this advertisement photo. Courtesy of Dongwon F&B

By Kim Jae-heun

Dongwon Food & Beverage (Dongwon F&B) has launched a new canned ham product called “Richam Double Light” to expand its business in the health food sector.

The food firm reduced the sodium and fat content for its new Richam Double Light by 25 percent, compared to that of the average sodium and saturated fat found in the domestic market's top three canned hams.

As people have been spending more time at home due to social distancing measures, Dongwon F&B saw that making healthier food will attract more customers who are diet conscious.

Dongwon F&B was the first local firm to introduce a low-sodium canned ham. But many of its rivals have since followed Dongwon F&B in offering conveniently canned ham-based products with less sodium, and the food firm has now decided to reduce the fat in their new product this time.

Popular TV personality and singer Kim Jong-kook, who is well-known for being a fitness fanatic, was selected as the commercial model for Richam Double Light in September.

Kim has over 2.13 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, and he will be promoting Dongwon F&B's canned ham via his social media accounts.

Dongwon F&B introduced low-sodium canned ham in 2003 to change people's views of instant food products as being overly salty. Plus, the food company increased the pork content in the canned ham to over 90 percent in order bring it closer to the taste of real meat.

In 2010 and 2018, Dongwon F&B reduced the sodium in Richam Double Light twice more and used D-SALT, an alternative seasoning to replace salt in the Richam series.

D-SALT is a low-sodium seasoning that Dongwon F&B developed through numerous tests and consumer evaluations, which uses more than 10 raw food materials.

Dongwon F&B tested the use of other sodium substitutes that are already available in the market but it was not satisfied with the taste. The food company decided to invent its own seasoning over three years coming to fruition in D-SALT.

In 2019, Richam achieved cumulative sales of 1 trillion won, selling over 350 million cans since the product's launch in 2003.