[Distribution Hot People] "'World's No.1 Ice Cream' Ben & Jerry's, Knocked on the Door for 4 Years"

Interview with Park Jong-in, GS Retail Ilbae Food Team Ice Cream MD
Ben & Jerry's Debuted in Korea Last August
Competing with Premium Marketing
Customers' Enthusiastic Response
Traveling to Seoul with Icebox from Provinces

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] "It took more than four years to persuade 'Ben & Jerry's,' which initially had little interest in the Korean market. In the end, they gave the distribution rights to us (GS Retail), who persistently knocked on their door first."

Park Jong-in, an ice cream product planner (MD) of GS Retail's Ilbae Food Team (photo), shared the behind-the-scenes story of selling Ben & Jerry's ice cream for the first time in Korea about a year ago during an interview with Asia Economy at the Yeoksam headquarters on the 25th.

Ben & Jerry's is the world's number one pint ice cream company and a symbol of premium ice cream. Founded over 40 years ago by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield at a gas station in Burlington, Vermont, USA, it holds a belief in using milk from healthy cows as its main ingredient.

GS25, a convenience store operated by GS Retail, was chosen as a forward base for market exploration ahead of Ben & Jerry's official entry in October last year. It served as a kind of test bed. This marked the third entry into Asia after Japan and Malaysia. Convincing Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry's, which initially had little interest in the Korean market, was not an easy task even for a large company like GS Retail.

Park Jong-in MD said, "The global headquarters focused most on branding capabilities that could clearly establish the identity as a premium ice cream brand when selecting partners, and GS's strategy emphasizing premium marketing fit well," adding, "The trust built between Unilever, which handles daily necessities, cosmetics, and food, and GS Retail through convenience store operations helped raise awareness of our company."

Indeed, Ben & Jerry's landing in Korea in August last year sparked a hot topic. The total ice cream sales at nine test operation stores in Gangnam, Yeoksam, and Cheongdam surged tenfold compared to before. Some even traveled from the provinces to Seoul carrying ice boxes. Especially, the response from hidden domestic fans who missed the local taste through studying abroad, exchange programs, or travel was enthusiastic. Due to the strong response, Ben & Jerry's headquarters officially announced its entry into Korea in October and expanded sales channels to some marts, online malls, supermarkets, hotels, and restaurants. However, GS25 remains the only convenience store sales channel. GS25 also expanded its sales channels to over 700 convenience stores nationwide.

Not only Ben & Jerry's but also popular French ice cream 'Cattedor,' 'Halo Top,' famous as 'HyunA ice cream,' 'Mars Ice Cream' made in collaboration with American Mars, the famous chocolate 'Twix' version, 'M&M' version, and 'Xiaomei Brown Sugar Bubble Ice Bar' were also introduced. In fact, GS Retail's premium ice cream market has continued to grow significantly. Compared to the same period last year, it increased by 14.8% in 2018, jumped 32.2% in 2019, and grew by 51.6% from January to May this year. This growth rate exceeds the overall ice cream sales growth rate (30.1%) this year by more than 20 percentage points.

Park Jong-in MD explained, "Earlier this year, convenience stores benefited from being designated as places to use government disaster relief funds," adding, "Consumers spending more time at home with their families began to prefer large-sized ice cream that they could enjoy together, leading to increased sales of premium pint-sized ice cream."

Preparations for this summer's sales have also been completed early. He emphasized, "We are preparing various frozen dessert products for this summer, and next week, a 'Dalgona Ice Cream' incorporating the recent hot trend of dalgona will be launched," adding, "GS's unique technology preserves the dalgona granules, which are vulnerable to moisture, on top of milk ice cream without mixing them."