Record High Sales Nearing 3 Trillion Last Year
Operating Profit Also Increased by About 30%
Online Business Sales Up 133%
CEO Hwang Jonghyun's Innovation Achievements
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] "We will achieve 4 trillion KRW in sales and 100 billion KRW in operating profit within 2 years, and leap forward as a comprehensive food platform company."
On the 21st, Hwang Jong-hyun, CEO of SPC Samlip, presented a mid-term vision to develop from a bakery-specialized company into a comprehensive food company.
Achieved Record High Sales Last Year
Last year, Samlip recorded sales and operating profit of 2.947 trillion KRW and 65.8 billion KRW, respectively, increasing by 15.9% and 28.6% compared to the previous year. Both the bakery and food businesses, the two main pillars of the company, grew evenly, resulting in strong performance in both sales and operating profit.
In particular, online business sales grew 133% year-on-year to 96.3 billion KRW due to the expansion of the online distribution platform. SPC Samlip’s salad brand, ‘Pig in the Garden,’ exceeded an average monthly production of 500,000 units last year. The processed meat brand ‘Greek Schwein’ also gained attention due to increased demand for home consumption.
CEO Hwang, who was brought in as a savior for SPC Samlip, diversified the business portfolio including online business and raised profits. In 2019, operating profit fell 22% from the previous year, dropping below 50 billion KRW. Having worked for over 30 years at Dongwon Group as an expert in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), sales, and marketing, CEO Hwang boldly cut unprofitable businesses and expanded new businesses such as online after becoming head of SPC Samlip. In his first year in office in 2020, he restored operating profit to 50 billion KRW and raised it to 65.8 billion KRW last year.
Entering the Dawn Delivery Market, Strengthening Online
CEO Hwang set the online business sales target at 300 billion KRW. To achieve this, he plans to develop ‘Sangnok Welga,’ a B2B material distribution platform, into a direct-to-consumer (D2C) distribution platform. He is also entering the dawn delivery market. In partnership with logistics startups, they are reviewing plans to sell fresh foods such as those from Pig in the Garden via dawn delivery.
They will also build a portfolio of convenient meals focused on health and premium quality. Sandwiches and salads will solidify market dominance, and individual brands such as Greek Schwein (processed meat) and I’m Baker (home baking) will be actively nurtured.
They are also entering the plant-based alternative food business. First, they will target the vegan market by partnering with the U.S. food tech company JUST. JUST is a startup famous for ‘JUST Egg,’ an artificial egg made from plant-based protein. SPC Samlip plans to manufacture plant-based alternative foods at SPC Fresh Food Factory and distribute them domestically starting in the first half of this year. Brands such as Samlip Hobang, Samlip Hotteok, Haimeun, and Yakgwa will be focused on as export-specialized brands to strengthen overseas business.
CEO Hwang said, "We will devote all efforts to securing future growth engines with business strategies reflecting changing consumer and distribution environment trends to achieve the 2024 vision. We will strive to secure differentiated technology through expanded R&D investment and strengthen ESG (environment, social, governance) management that leads healthy food culture creation to enhance corporate and shareholder value."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
