[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Based on a stable steel business and transitioning into a holding company to pursue various new businesses, JSC Holdings is entering the fresh food distribution business focused on livestock products following its distribution business of Helicobacter diagnostic kits. On the 7th, JSC Holdings announced the establishment of a specialized platform division for fresh food distribution, including meat.
Starting with the establishment of the related division, JSC Holdings plans to cooperate with large overseas livestock processing companies and packers to supply the best quality meat, and directly supply products to domestic small and medium-sized distributors such as butcher shops and restaurants. Through this, consumers are expected to be able to purchase the best quality meat at reasonable prices without intermediate distribution margins.
For this new business, JSC Holdings has been constructing a 1,700-pyeong (approximately 5,615㎡) frozen warehouse on a site of about 15,200㎡ (approximately 4,600 pyeong) located in Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do since last September. The frozen warehouse is scheduled to be completed by the end of March next year, and along with this, JSC Holdings plans to build an additional frozen warehouse on idle land owned by its subsidiary Willings in Yongin.
The company explained that since the site is located in an area where many domestic imported meat frozen warehouses and logistics warehouses are concentrated, there are various advantages for future business progress.
A representative from JSC Holdings’ new business promotion department said, “Due to recent global inflation, concerns among consumers about soaring prices in the domestic meat market are very deep. Since this new business receives the best quality meat already processed from global meat packers, it can exclude the stage of ‘meat import processors’ and provide high-quality meat at a more affordable price.”
He added, “We are currently rapidly conducting discussions with several large overseas livestock processing companies for the business, so we expect to show meaningful results soon. We plan to do our best not only to increase sales by expanding into the B2C sector through platform advancement but also to maximize corporate value.”
Meanwhile, according to industry sources, Emart is reportedly pushing to acquire the domestic livestock direct transaction platform ‘Meatbox Global’ in partnership with domestic and foreign financial investors (FIs). Launched in 2014, Meatbox Global is a direct transaction brokerage service that eliminates intermediate distributors and directly connects meat importers and processors with restaurants and butcher shops, with cumulative investments reaching 26 billion KRW.
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