2023-08-14
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The Economist Korea
Bon Group, which has grown into a company with 400 billion won in sales starting with 'Bonzuk,' is accelerating efforts to discover and develop new businesses. The core strategy involves expanding business areas centered on Korean cuisine—including franchising (Bon IB), group meal services (Bon Food Service), and liquid food manufacturing and distribution (Pure Bon)—into non-Korean and non-dining sectors. Through collaboration or development approaches, the company aims to carefully examine business viability while seeking new revenue streams. According to Bon Group on the 2nd, the company is pursuing a so-called two-track strategy, simultaneously operating its existing three business divisions (franchising, group meal services, and liquid food manufacturing distribution) while discovering and nurturing new businesses. Since Bon, the group's core brand, aims for "sincerity and health," which are attributes of Korean cuisine, the Bon brand will be used for Korean food businesses like Bonzuk, while new businesses will focus on "whether sincerity and health can be provided," examining possibilities across dining, platforms, services, and various other sectors. With 20 years of experience primarily in Korean food businesses, Bon Group's active approach to business diversification stems from securing sustainability through new growth drivers. To establish a foundation for stable business management and expansion, the company previously established a holding division last year. Subsequently, as part of business diversification efforts, the company made "startup discovery contests" a regular event, and this year the number of submissions increased sixfold from the previous year. Particularly, many items were submitted from the foodtech sector. Bon Group, together with Underdogs, a startup cultivation specialist company, plans to provide systematic educational programs to seven teams selected through document and face-to-face reviews, and will concrete business models by team. The company will proceed through persona definition, solution concretization, minimum viable product (MVP) planning and development, businessmodel concretization through competitor and market analysis, and one-on-one coaching and customized education, awarding outstanding teams in September. Food companies across the board are making efforts to diversify their business portfolios, from discovering new business items to strengthening research and development. Dongwon Group is promoting aquaculture as one of its future new businesses. Transitioning from existing "fishing" to "farming" for securing stable and sustainable aquatic resources in the future. To this end, Dongwon Group is known to have decided to invest over 200 billion won in stages and create an "eco-friendly land-based salmon farming complex" in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province. This aquaculture facility, spanning approximately 35,000 pyeong, aims to produce 20,000 tons annually, with groundbreaking scheduled for October and completion expected in 2025. Furthermore, the company has stated it will solidify a unique position in the global food market, which has become unstable due to climate change and international food ingredient price volatility. CJ CheilJedang is strengthening research and development through collaboration with promising domestic startups, expanding its existing R&D infrastructure. Through 'Frontier Labs,' an open innovation program that CJ CheilJedang has been operating for three years since 2021, the company is making direct investments and collaborations with startups or small and medium enterprises that possess new technologies. This is a program that discovers outstanding companies with innovation capabilities possessing unprecedented technologies and business models and supports their growth, aiming to jointly develop technology and commercialize beyond just generating profits. To foster CJ CheilJedang's internal ventures and innovation organizations, the company also established Inoplay, an innovation hub space. Genesis BBQ has filed trademarks for 'Joipia' and 'The Waltz.' The designated products include animal hospital services and pet breeding, bathing, grooming, and cosmetics. According to Genesis BBQ, this trademark registration is a preemptive measure with diverse possibilities in mind, and given that it follows previous applications for animal feed trademarks such as 'Chicken Party with Pet' and 'Olive Party with Pet,' opinions suggest the company is examining various sectors including pet grooming and accommodation. Gyeongchon F&B has diversified its business beyond Gyeongchon Chicken to include HMR and beer. According to industry reports, Gyeongchon F&B recently filed new trademarks—a total of three: 'K1 KYOCHON,' 'Flavrous,' and 'Maildanpyeon,' each related to sauce, HMR, and dining brands respectively. Based on long business experience, there is analysis that the company will expand its portfolio beyond chicken into various sectors. Additionally, the company has launched two HMR products: 'Gyeongchon Red Secret Stir-fried Noodles' and 'Gyeongchon Black Secret Stir-fried Noodles.' Jaehoon Kim, director of management planning at Bon Group's holding division, stated, "If Bon Group has laid the roots of corporate growth over the past 20 years primarily in Korean food businesses such as franchising like Bonzuk, group meal services, and liquid food, we will prepare a new 20 years through new businesses such as foodtech, senior services, and platforms. Through 'sincerity and health,' the essential values that Bon Group pursues, we will establish a sustainable foundation through both existing and new businesses."
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