Four Teams Gather to Quickly Prepare Convenience Store and Buffet Kimchi in One Week... Daesang Jonggajip Aims to Dominate the 1 Trillion B2B Market

'Kimchi Solution Business' Launches, Expanding Corporate Clients
Joint Operations and Synergy Among Marketing, Research, Solution, and Sales Teams
Thousands of Kimchi Application Recipes Available, Sample Completed Within One Week

Jongga Jip Geochang Factory.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Last winter, a lunchbox featuring fresh kimchi and boiled pork, a delicacy during the kimchi-making season, appeared in convenience stores and attracted attention. The star product was the ‘Jongga Jip Kimchi & Boiled Pork Set’ lunchbox, created through a collaboration between Jongga Jip and CU, which contained Jongga Jip fresh kimchi and boiled pork wrapped in bossam. This product was designed to allow consumers who are giving up on making kimchi to conveniently enjoy freshly made kimchi. It gained great popularity by using carefully selected domestic ingredients from napa cabbage to red pepper powder to make Jongga Jip kimchi.

Daesang’s Jongga Jip, the first packaged kimchi brand in Korea, is accelerating its push into the B2B (business-to-business) market by actively pursuing various ‘brand collaborations’ with the food, distribution, and dining industries. Rather than resting on its position as the number one brand in the B2C (business-to-consumer) market selling kimchi to general consumers, it plans to strengthen its market dominance in the B2B market, which accounts for about 70% of the total kimchi market and is worth over one trillion won, thereby establishing itself as the top kimchi brand.

Jongga Jip Geochang Factory.

◆Focusing on Customized Kimchi Production through Departmental Collaboration= According to Daesang on the 25th, Jongga Jip plans to aggressively increase its B2B market share this year by offering a variety of ‘customized kimchi’ tailored to the needs of corporate clients. To this end, Jongga Jip has established a four-team system focusing on interdepartmental collaboration: the marketing team responsible for overall fresh business, the research team developing customized kimchi based on fermentation technology, the solution team composed of professional chefs developing menu recipes using customized kimchi, and the sales team meeting corporate clients to understand their needs.

After reorganizing the kimchi business organization, the time from concept meetings discussing the taste of kimchi desired by corporate clients to the completion of sample products is only about one to two weeks. Once the sample is completed, customers taste the kimchi themselves and finalize the process after making adjustments to the desired parts. The entire process from sample production and safety testing to product manufacturing is completed within a maximum of four weeks.

Im Byung-ik, Deputy Manager of Jongga Jip Kimchi Marketing, said, “Interdepartmental collaboration is very organic and efficient, allowing Jongga Jip to produce and supply kimchi tailored to the characteristics of each corporate client. In line with the growth of the B2B kimchi market, we plan to further expand the range of kimchi-based products and menus this year to solidify Jongga Jip’s position.”

The one trillion won B2B market is about 60% dominated by Chinese products. The remaining portion is divided by about 900 domestic companies. Until now, Daesang focused only on the B2C market, but it has now recognized the unlimited potential of the B2B market and started pioneering it. While still firmly holding the number one brand position in the B2C market, it has turned its attention to the rapidly growing and fiercely competitive B2B market, where the second-ranked company CJ CheilJedang is aggressively competing.

◆Active Brand Collaborations by Jongga Jip= Jongga Jip plans to continue active collaborations this year. First, all stir-fried kimchi in PB lunchboxes sold at CU are produced by Jongga Jip, and recently, new products such as ‘Stir-fried Kimchi Tuna Kimbap’ and ‘Aged Kimchi Ham Mayo Kimbap’ using 100% domestically produced Jongga Jip stir-fried kimchi were launched. At 7-Eleven, following the ‘Whole Ham Kimchi Jjageuli’ lunchbox made with Jongga Jip kimchi for deep flavor, they introduced the ‘Pork Neck Kimchi Stew Triangle Kimbap’ containing Jongga Jip stir-fried kimchi, expanding the range of choices.

The beginning of Jongga Jip’s brand collaborations was in 2018 with the chicken franchise ‘Mexicana’ through the launch of ‘Mr. Kimchikin.’ ‘Mr. Kimchikin,’ fried chicken seasoned with stir-fried kimchi flavor sauce, attracted attention by stimulating the curiosity of younger consumers with its unique combination. As word of mouth spread about this unusual collaboration with Mexicana, Jongga Jip began partnering with various brands and in February last year teamed up with the Korean buffet ‘Jayeon Byeolgok.’ Currently, in the ‘Jongga Jip Bansang’ corner within Jayeon Byeolgok, seasonal kimchi menus combining Jongga Jip’s technology and Jayeon Byeolgok’s recipes, such as kimchi jjageuli, fresh kimchi, and seokbakji, can be enjoyed. The Jongga Jip kimchi used in Jayeon Byeolgok is characterized by a refreshing and clean taste achieved by adding kanari fish sauce to harmonize with existing menu items.

The industry expects Daesang to demonstrate sufficient competitiveness in the B2B market, where major consumers include group catering, school meals, and dining establishments. The source of Jongga Jip’s B2B business execution capability lies in thousands of kimchi application recipes accumulated over many years. These recipes are based on big data accumulated over 33 years, combined with kimchi application menus and kimchi fermentation technology. The ‘kimchi fermentation technology’ is a unique secret of Jongga Jip, where the same kimchi exhibits different acidity and texture depending on the degree of fermentation. By selecting the fermentation level of kimchi and then adjusting other ingredients accordingly, kimchi tailored to corporate clients’ tastes is produced.

Deputy Manager Im said, “Jongga Jip shows high satisfaction in the B2B market by discovering the taste of kimchi desired by corporate clients and providing recipes that match. We will expand our connections with corporate clients seeking differentiated kimchi application menus by utilizing Jongga Jip’s unique know-how.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.