Over 100,000 Participants in Baemin Academy Training

Over 70,000 Students Enrolled Even After Shift to Online Education Due to Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic

Baemin Academy Real-time Online Education Filming Site

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The number of students enrolled in Baemin Academy, Baedal Minjok's free dining industry program, has surpassed 100,000. As many small business owners faced difficulties managing restaurants due to the spread of COVID-19, over 70,000 people participated in online and real-time non-face-to-face education in just one year.

Woowa Brothers (CEO Kim Beom-jun) announced on the 27th that the total number of small business owners who participated in the educational programs conducted by Baemin Academy has exceeded 100,000. Baemin Academy started in 2014 with offline education in the form of lectures and practical training at an education center located in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Offline education has been held 514 times to date, with a cumulative participation of 29,007 people. Last year, as COVID-19 spread and offline meetings were restricted, most programs shifted to online and real-time non-face-to-face education starting in July. Only in online and non-face-to-face education, 71,337 people participated in one year.

Baemin Academy offers various programs for small business owners who actually run restaurants or prospective entrepreneurs who are new to the business. Currently, Baemin Academy's educational content covers over 250 topics, ranging from food preparation and menu composition to tax and legal affairs, encompassing overall restaurant management. Among these, the lectures with high interest and satisfaction were mainly practical content necessary to increase sales and facilitate smooth operations.

The business experience of small business owners using Baemin Academy showed that 29.6% had been in business for more than one year but less than three years. Veterans with over five years of experience accounted for 35% of the total. This is analyzed as Baemin Academy being sought out to solve on-site concerns regardless of business experience. In the second half of this year, Baemin Academy plans to provide various new content to respond to changes in the dining industry due to the prolonged social distancing. First, a series detailing closure and re-start preparations related to the rapidly increasing business category changes is being prepared. New content on topics of recent interest, such as senior digital education and writing for delivery apps, is also planned.

Kwon Yong-gyu, Head of Value Management at Woowa Brothers, said, "So far, Baemin Academy has prepared various educational content to help restaurant owners improve food taste and service quality and easily access management knowledge that requires expertise. As the spread of COVID-19 prolongs, we will further expand programs that can practically assist business owners facing great difficulties."