[Hipple Hip Item] "Value King Donkatsu Sold 60 Million Units"... Food Ingredient Rising Power Foodist

Interview with Hadong-yeol, Executive Director of Product Development at Foodist
PB 'Sikjajaewang' Capturing Restaurant Owners' Hearts
Surpassed 1 Trillion KRW in Sales Last Year... Good Morning Delivery via Refrigerator

Foodist, which surpassed 1 trillion KRW in sales last year, has rapidly emerged as a new powerhouse in the food ingredient market. The company grew in size after separating from Hanwha Group’s Hotel & Resort division in 2020 and merging with OnePlus, a food ingredient development and distribution company, in 2021. Despite fierce competition, Foodist has maintained double-digit growth rates over the past three years, solidifying its position in the food ingredient market.

Foodist’s Secret to 1 Trillion KRW Sales: "Understanding Restaurant Owners’ Needs"... 60 Million Pork Cutlets Sold Thanks to Word of Mouth on Cost-Effectiveness

"Achieving 1 trillion KRW in sales is the result of focusing on solving the 'pain points' of restaurant owners, which is the essence of food ingredient distribution," said Ha Dong-yeol, Foodist’s Executive Director of Product Development, in an interview with Asia Economy on the 13th at Foodist’s headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Ha identified three main pain points for domestic restaurant owners, i.e., small-scale food and beverage business operators: price, quality, and delivery. In an era of high inflation, a business cannot succeed without sourcing reasonably priced yet high-quality raw materials. Moreover, without fast delivery, inventory management, which is crucial for operations, is bound to fail. Ha said, "When we started early morning delivery of cost-effective products to small-scale food and beverage operators who barely break even, Foodist experienced explosive growth."

First, Foodist realized reasonable pricing through its private brand (PB) 'Sikjajaewang' (Food Ingredient King). Sikjajaewang consists of over 1,300 products, including frozen, refrigerated, room temperature, and non-food items. Ha explained, "As word of mouth about Sikjajaewang’s cost-effectiveness spread, sales jumped 30% over four years, reaching 190 billion KRW last year." Compared to competitor PB sales such as CJ CheilJedang’s It’s Well and Daesang’s Chef One, this is the highest level in the industry. A representative product is pork cutlet. Ha said, "Sikjajaewang’s pork cutlet, known as the 'Cost-Effectiveness King,' has sold 60 million pieces to date."

To enhance Sikjajaewang’s cost-effectiveness, Foodist even established an in-house R&D team. Ha said, "On the first floor of our headquarters, the cooking studio is where chefs from top-tier hotels and product development experts are continuously creating cost-effective products that reflect the latest trends." As dining-out demand decreases and food and beverage operators face the double burden of rising ingredient and labor costs, Foodist plans to launch ultra cost-effective products. Ha stated, "With rising rent and labor costs, the only controllable factor for restaurant owners is ultimately the cost of goods. We are developing ultra cost-effective, practical products to address the concerns of restaurant owners amid high inflation."

"Cheap and Cost-Effective Are Different"

However, Ha emphasized that cheapness and cost-effectiveness are different concepts. He said, "'Cheap but poor quality' has been proven in the low-price market," adding, "Outstanding cost-effectiveness based on quality is Sikjajaewang’s greatest competitive advantage."

Foodist has built its own food analysis center to ensure quality control. Ha emphasized, "Low-price brands focus only on meeting legal standards, but Foodist sets contamination indicators such as food poisoning bacteria stricter than legal limits and promptly discards products that fail to meet these standards." He added, "Even when purchasing reasonably priced products, receiving this level of quality control service is what differentiates us from competing products."

Finally, Foodist solved food and beverage operators’ delivery concerns with its early morning delivery service called 'Good Morning Delivery.' Known as the rocket delivery of the food ingredient industry, food and beverage operators in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon can receive Good Morning Delivery when purchasing through the online food ingredient platform eWang Mart. Ha said, "Even putting the delivered products into the refrigerator takes time. If customers want, we place the ingredients inside the refrigerator so they stay fresh until before business hours."

Foodist’s sales target for this year is 1.3 trillion KRW, about a 30% increase from last year. Ha said, "We aim to grow centered on two pillars: eWang Mart and Good Morning Delivery." The company plans to increase Sikjajaewang’s sales to 300 billion KRW by 2025.

Meanwhile, Foodist recently developed a community application called 'Seonggong Sikdang' (Successful Restaurant). It was created with the intention that Food and beverage operators can focus on their business while Foodist solves inconveniences related to finance, accounting, and hygiene. In Seonggong Sikdang, users can check the market prices of agricultural, marine, and livestock products and learn strategies to prepare for price increases. Ha said, "In the harsh dining industry environment, Foodist will firmly establish its position as a partner and a tool to solve food and beverage operators’ concerns."