[Post-Corona, Convenience Foods Rise] Refrigerated Products Preserving Original Taste of Cooking, Minimizing Shelf Life

Korea Yakult

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Korea Yakult launched the convenient meal brand 'It's On' in July 2017. It is a convenient meal concept that is freshly cooked daily and delivered upon customer order. Instead of frozen or retort foods, it is distributed as refrigerated food, minimizing the shelf life to preserve the original taste of the dishes. When customers specify the delivery date and time, a Fresh Manager personally delivers the meal fresh to the doorstep. This approach is evaluated as a step closer to the essence of convenient meals, which is to easily prepare a meal. Above all, there is no separate delivery fee even if only one item is purchased.

They have diversified the convenient meal lineup by continuously introducing hearty meals including dishes from various countries, soups and stews, and Korean side dishes like kimchi, as well as breakfast substitutes for busy modern people. Additionally, they have been steadily growing the It's On brand by offering fresh and healthy meal options such as salads, porridge, sandwiches, and meal replacement powders.

In September of the same year, they launched the brand's main category, 'It's On Meal Kit.' The 'It's On Meal Kit' comes with a recipe card detailing ingredients and cooking methods, allowing anyone to easily enjoy a gourmet meal. The ingredients are pre-prepped and seasonings are provided in just the right amounts, making it economical and reducing grocery shopping time. It is especially popular as it offers a unique fun experience for single-person households, dual-income couples, and men who usually find cooking difficult to prepare special dishes.

To elevate the quality of convenient meals, they have collaborated annually with famous chefs to release original products. So far, there have been a total of four chef collaboration products. Furthermore, the ability to easily prepare international dishes at home, which were previously only available at restaurants, has strongly appealed to younger customers. Since the launch of Korea Yakult's 'It's On' brand, cumulative sales have reached approximately 44.5 billion KRW, with cumulative sales of 'It's On Meal Kit' at 11 billion KRW (as of December 2019).

In October last year, the online mall HiFresh was enhanced into a mobile fresh market. Through this, the product lineup was greatly expanded to include popular brand products such as Bonjuk and Jongga. The number of products exceeds about 220.

The delivery system has also evolved. Since April 2018, a 'subscription delivery service' has been implemented, allowing customers to receive convenient meals regularly with a single order. The number of customers using the 'subscription delivery service' is about 120,000 (as of February 2020). There is an additional 5% discount benefit for subscription delivery users, and the number of users continues to grow steadily. Since October last year, the evening safe delivery service 'HiFresh Go' has also started. It operates only in Seocho, Gangnam, and Songpa districts in Seoul, with deliveries made by Fresh Managers from 6 PM to 11 PM.

Korea Yakult entered the convenient meal market early and has been steadily growing. In particular, there has been consistent prior effort to embody the corporate values of 'freshness' and 'health' in convenient meals. In 2017, before launching the fresh convenient meal brand and introducing a fresh logistics system, they developed the world's first refrigerated electric cart 'Coco (cold&cool)' in 2014, distributing over 10,000 units as of 2020, and completed the fresh logistics system by constructing the Singal Integrated Logistics Center.

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