[Asia Exclusive] 20 Years in Distribution... The Ox-Year CEO Who Focused Solely on 'Organic'

Who is Choi Woo-sik, CEO of Oasis?
Sharing hardships and joys with employees at the production site
Prepared 'Seol gift' until 2 AM on the interview day
Interest in distribution led from convenience stores and department stores to dawn delivery

Choi Wooshik, CEO of Oasis, poses before an interview on the 10th at the Oasis Market logistics center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kang Jinhyung, Seongnam aymsdream@

[Interview = Asia Economy Myung Jin-gyu, Head of Consumer Economy Department, Organized by Cha Min-young] Ahead of the Lunar New Year peak season in January, which has come earlier than usual, Choi Woo-sik, CEO of Oasis, is busy every day. As the era of delivering fresh food has arrived, the volume of Lunar New Year goods entering Oasis Market has surged more than 10 times compared to the same period last year. To ensure smooth delivery to customers, all employees have joined the early morning shifts. Even the company’s CEO is no exception. Until the interview day (the 10th), he spent a busy day working together on packaging and picking (the process of taking items from shelves where goods are stored and distributing them to the shipping area) at the Seongnam logistics center until 2 a.m.

Born in 1973, the Year of the Ox, CEO Choi Woo-sik has a gentle appearance. This is thanks to the natural wrinkles beside his mouth when he smiles and the softly curved corners of his eyes. Choi Woo-sik took his first step into the distribution industry about 20 years ago in 1999. He had been interested in distribution since his undergraduate days. Working in various distribution sectors from convenience stores to department stores, he deepened his understanding of the distribution process and logistics chain system connecting producers to consumers. In March 2010, he joined Woori Consumer Life Cooperative as a team leader in charge of producer management, establishing a connection. Later, in 2013, he served as the head of product planning at Woori Networks.

In his twenties, his concerns about health led to an interest in organic farming, and in 2015 he worked as an organic certification inspector. During this time, he spent two years conducting organic standard inspections, increasing opportunities to meet producers cultivating organic agricultural products. He regards this period as one in which he was able to build his personal network. In 2017, he returned to Oasis as a management professional, directly leading product sourcing and product planning (MD) divisions. In May 2018, he successfully launched the online site Oasis Market. Currently, he also directly discovers producers for collaboration, minimizing distribution margins while connecting online and offline sales channels.

CEO Choi’s management style, which dreams of distribution innovation where producers and consumers coexist, aligns with the motto Oasis has set for itself: “A place that connects and embraces the sky, earth, sea, people and people, people and nature, yesterday and today, and tomorrow.” To realize the value he has defined for Oasis, he once again heads to the Seongnam logistics center, production sites, and various regions across the country.

◆ Career

▲ Born in 1973

▲ 1998 Bachelor of Industrial Management, Osan University

▲ 2010 Woori Consumer Life Cooperative

▲ 2013 Woori Networks

▲ 2014 Certified Organic Farming Technician

▲ 2014 Organic Certification Inspector

▲ 2017 CEO of Oasis