Emart and 16 Years of Partnership... Eco-Friendly 'Albi Bag' Big Hit

[Beautiful Journey] Relay Interview
⑥ Kim Seongtae, CEO of DIX

Supplies 'Albibag' maintaining 9 hours refrigeration and freezing
Popular for everyday use
Delivery volume increased due to COVID-19... Sales doubled

Partnered with SSG.com, leading eco-friendly business
Producing microbial ice packs, etc.

On the 24th, Kim Sung-tae, CEO of DIX, is posing while holding an eco-friendly ice pack and an Albi bag.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] As the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis continues throughout this year, warm win-win cooperation between large distribution companies and small and medium-sized enterprises is ongoing. Notably, some companies that have rapidly grown due to the expansion of non-face-to-face (untact) consumption culture are drawing attention.

16-Year Relationship with Emart Blossoms in the COVID Era

On the 24th, we met Kim Sung-tae, CEO of Dix, which is responsible for manufacturing the cooling bags 'Albi Bag' for SSG.com. CEO Kim began, "If it weren't for the relationship with Emart since Dix's founding 16 years ago, the growth we have achieved until now would not have been possible." He decided to start the business after quitting his job and by chance attending an overseas packaging bag exhibition. At that time, most domestic gift set packaging bags were made of non-woven fabric, but overseas, various materials for packaging bags were distributed. Seeing this, CEO Kim decided to produce packaging bags using new materials instead of the easily torn non-woven fabric during delivery, and Emart adopted this.

CEO Kim said, "At that time, Emart boldly and swiftly made decisions to try things that competitors did not attempt. Changing the packaging of products such as holiday gift sets was one of them, and through this, we established our relationship." Since then, Dix, which has supplied eco-friendly shopping bags, refrigerated packages for meat sets, and transport cooling boxes, has maintained its relationship with Emart for over a decade and reached a turning point with the launch of Emart's SSG.com.

Since June last year, Dix has been supplying Albi Bags, which are returnable cooling bags for SSG.com, and ice packs used for fresh food delivery. The Albi Bag has the function of maintaining the temperature of refrigerated and frozen products for up to 9 hours. With a focus on design, it is also useful in daily life and has become one of the popular items in dawn delivery services.

Dix has rapidly grown this year as SSG.com's delivery volume increased significantly due to the COVID-19 crisis. Sales this year have doubled compared to last year, and over the three years working with SSG.com, growth has exceeded threefold. Compared to the early days of the company, this represents an astonishing 90-fold growth.

Leading Eco-Friendly Initiatives Hand in Hand with SSG.com

Dix is also leading eco-friendly projects together with SSG.com. After introducing Korea's first paper packaging ice pack, they developed a microbial ice pack. This ice pack is infused with a photosynthetic microorganism called 'PSB.' When discarding the ice pack, tearing the packaging and disposing of the contents into the sewage system results in wastewater purification effects, and it can also be used as a nutrient to promote plant growth at home. SSG.com fully introduced the microbial ice pack to its dawn delivery service in May, with an average daily usage of 20,000 units.

Recently, Dix has also started developing starch-based ice packs. While water-based ice packs have the advantage of being eco-friendly, their temperature retention performance is about 60% lower than conventional plastic-based ice packs. Using starch can enhance cooling power. CEO Kim said, "Currently, starch ice packs are being used for kimchi delivery by Chosun Hotel," adding, "Since the use of existing plastic-based ice packs will be banned starting next year, the utilization of starch ice packs will increase."

CEO Kim plans to take the lead in eco-friendliness in line with the rapidly expanding untact consumption culture such as online grocery shopping. He stated, "Voices demanding eco-friendliness for boxes and cooling materials used in delivery will grow stronger. We will develop various products that are more eco-friendly than existing ones while also reducing costs."