Interview with Choi Hyun, Executive Director at Emart
Continuous Growth Every Year Since 2013
Famous Chefs and Experts in the Secret Lab
Ongoing Quality Management Even After Product Launch
"When it comes to Home Meal Replacement (HMR), it is synonymous with Peacock. We will focus even more on taste and quality to offer a variety of home meal replacements at the level of dining out, discovering gourmet menus both domestically and internationally, breaking down the boundaries between dining out and eating at home, and solidifying our position in the premium HMR market."
Choi Hyun, Executive Director in charge of Peacock at E-Mart, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 9th, "Since the brand's launch, we have focused on the cultural shift of dining out becoming dining at home and developed products accordingly," adding, "With the prolonged COVID-19 situation, there has been a preference for home-cooked meals, and customers have shown great love for our products."
Peacock has been growing steadily every year. Executive Director Choi explained, "Since the brand's first launch in 2013, sales have continuously expanded," noting, "Sales reached 100 billion KRW in 2015, 200 billion KRW in 2017, 300 billion KRW in 2020, 400 billion KRW in 2021, and surpassed 420 billion KRW last year."
The main customer base consists of housewives and single-person households. Executive Director Choi stated, "Various gourmet products have consistently gained popularity across all age groups," and added, "Meal kits are purchased more by married couples or families with middle and high school children, while ready meals are more commonly bought by unmarried single-person households."
Peacock focuses on quality rather than cost-effectiveness (performance relative to price). Executive Director Choi emphasized, "Unlike typical large supermarket private label (PL) ready meals, we develop premium products and pioneer the market," and stressed, "The most important aspect in product launch is taste. No matter how excellent the cost-effectiveness is, products that fail internal and external tests are not released."
Currently, Peacock operates about 750 to 800 products. The most popular items are Peacock’s rich Yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) and Uijeongbu-style Budae Jjigae (army stew). Executive Director Choi said, "The Yukgaejang is made by boiling a rich beef bone broth base with abundant vegetables and brisket, and cumulative sales have exceeded 3 million units," adding, "The Budae Jjigae has ranked first in meal kit sales for three years and surpassed 1 million units sold cumulatively."
At the core of Peacock is a ‘Secret Laboratory’ composed of chefs from famous hotels and restaurants and quality analysis experts. Executive Director Choi introduced, "With decades of accumulated culinary know-how and ideas from professional chefs, products are developed with rich ingredient composition, balanced taste, and gourmet experience," and added, "We personally visit places with delicious food both domestically and internationally. Even after product launch, we continuously conduct internal sensory tests and consumer surveys to maintain taste and quality."
The time to launch a Peacock product ranges from a few months to about a year. Executive Director Choi explained, "The product development manager proposes ideas for new products, and through market analysis, the feasibility and marketability are evaluated," adding, "If this process is passed, the product goes through stages including recipe development, searching for partner companies responsible for manufacturing, prototype production, package design, product evaluation, and improvement before the final product is released."
The recently launched ‘Gourmet Planning’ is the result of 10 years of menu development know-how and obsession with taste. Executive Director Choi said, "It was planned so that regional delicacies nationwide and global gourmet foods can be easily enjoyed at home with the same quality as dining out," and added, "Peacock buyers and chefs traveled all over Korea and abroad to discover tastes firsthand, and after 3 to 6 months of research, the products were completed."
Investment to enhance Peacock’s product development capabilities is also actively underway. Executive Director Choi explained, "We have reinforced facilities by diversifying equipment and devices in the cooking studio, the site of product development. In particular, reflecting food and beverage trends, we added bakery ovens, mixers, meat processing smoking test equipment, and roasting machines for coffee bean quality evaluation," and added, "We expanded the dedicated space where buyers can freely cook and test products by 50% compared to before, and introduced equipment to reduce air pollution in the quality control room to protect the respiratory health of researchers."
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