[Exclusive] Harim Chairman Kim Hong-guk's Two Daughters Also 'Join Management'... Challenge in E-commerce

Kim Hyunyoung and Kim Jiyoung Joined Harim Holdings Last Year
Overseeing Planning and Operations, Preparing a New Platform

Among the four children of Kim Hong-guk, chairman of Harim Holdings, the second daughter Kim Hyun-young (born 1995) and the third daughter Kim Ji-young (born 1999) are preparing to take the lead in management. Compared to the eldest daughter Kim Ju-young, executive director of Harim Holdings, and the eldest son Kim Jun-young, head of the investment planning team at Pan Ocean, Hyun-young and Ji-young, who had relatively fewer external activities, are entrusted with Harim Group’s new e-commerce platform business to demonstrate their management capabilities. As Harim Group’s ambitious home meal replacement (HMR) brand "The Misik" struggles, the industry’s attention is focused on their venture into another new business.

According to the distribution industry on the 27th, Harim Group plans to launch a new e-commerce platform led by Kim Hyun-young and Kim Ji-young within this year. The two daughters joined the holding company Harim Holdings last year and are taking on practical overall responsibilities from planning to operation to prepare the new platform. This project is being promoted as a company-wide new business at the group level. It is known that key personnel have been assigned to strengthen synergy with major affiliates.

Hongkuk Kim, Chairman of Harim Group

Expectations for the new platform are naturally high as Harim Group expands its business beyond the image of a traditional food company into digital transformation and distribution/platform sectors. The new platform is expected to offer a new user experience (UX) that integrates technology, content, and community, adopting an approach different from existing models. However, specific business models (BM) and investment scales have not yet been disclosed.

A senior official at Harim Holdings expressed caution, saying, "Detailed plans related to the e-commerce platform are still in the early stages of development."

The business community expects Harim Group to launch the new platform through a different approach than Glide. Currently, Glide, wholly owned by Harim Holdings, handles e-commerce for Harim Group. It sells home meal replacements (HMR), health functional foods, and daily necessities through a D2C (Direct to Consumer) method.

However, burdened by logistics costs and low customer loyalty, Glide has been running at a loss since its establishment in 2019. Harim Holdings reflected an impairment loss of about 5.1 billion KRW on Glide, adjusting its book value from 10.7 billion KRW in 2023 to 5.6 billion KRW last year.

Considering the significance of the new platform’s success in the group’s mid- to long-term goals, it is expected to be a stage to gauge the management capabilities of the two sisters. Chairman Kim Hong-guk has one son and three daughters. Executive director Kim Ju-young and head Kim Jun-young already hold important positions within the group. Until now, Hyun-young and Ji-young have not appeared publicly except for holding 30% and 20% stakes respectively in the landscaping company Zipore, related to Harim Group’s governance restructuring.

Born in 1988, executive director Kim Ju-young joined Harim Holdings’ planning team in 2015 and currently leads the Strategy Planning Team 2. She also serves as a registered director of Harim Pet Food, a pet food affiliate. The strategy planning organization is responsible for discovering new businesses and supporting affiliates within the group.

Born in 1992, head Kim Jun-young joined Harim Holdings as a manager in the management support office in 2018. After leaving in 2021, he worked at the private equity fund JKL Partners and returned to Pan Ocean earlier this year. He currently also serves as an inside director of NS Shopping and Glide.

Meanwhile, the succession process at Harim Holdings is practically in its final stage centered on head Kim Jun-young. Kim Jun-young secured a 22.71% stake in Harim Holdings through Olpum, in which he holds 100% ownership, and its subsidiaries, surpassing Chairman Kim Hong-guk, the largest shareholder with 21.10%. Currently, Olpum holds 5.78%, its subsidiary Korea Biotech holds 16.69%, and Eco Capital holds 0.24% of Harim Holdings’ shares respectively.