More Companies Provide Employee Meals Despite the COVID Recession

Sikgwandaejang Customer Growth in the First Half of the Year Doubles Compared to Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn, the number of companies providing meals for their employees has increased. Bendis (CEO Jo Jeong-ho), which operates the mobile meal voucher service 'Sikgwon Daejang,' announced on the 29th that it signed new service supply contracts with 150 companies in the first half of the year alone, recording more than double the number of client companies compared to the same period last year.

In the first half of this year alone, Bendis signed new contracts to supply the Sikgwon Daejang service with 148 companies. This represents more than double the 71 contracts signed during the same period last year. This already exceeds 80% of the total 182 client contracts acquired last year. As a result, the cumulative number of Sikgwon Daejang client companies has surpassed 800.

Sikgwon Daejang is currently being adopted not only by large corporations such as Hyundai Oilbank, Hankook Tire & Technology, Aekyung Industrial, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and Hansol Paper, but also by financial and public institutions including the Korea Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of Korea, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and Suncheon City Hall, spreading throughout the workplace meal culture. More than 130,000 office workers use Sikgwon Daejang daily for meals and other services.

The reason companies prefer Sikgwon Daejang is that it enables cost-effective welfare management. Jo Jeong-ho, CEO of Bendis, explained, "Through Sikgwon Daejang, companies can provide benefits closely connected to employees' daily lives, which they can feel firsthand every day, thereby achieving higher welfare satisfaction even with the same expenditure. Since welfare is directly linked to talent recruitment and improved work productivity, more companies are turning to Sikgwon Daejang to improve their welfare systems amid the ongoing economic downturn."