GS Retail·GS Home Shopping, Recruiting Promising Food Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] GS Retail and GS Home Shopping are accelerating efforts to expand synergy between affiliates.

On the 27th, GS Retail and GS Home Shopping announced the launch of the recruitment for the program "Next Foodicon (Subtitle: Searching for Unicorns in the Food Industry)" to discover and nurture food manufacturing startups for future mutual growth.

"Next Foodicon" is a project where GS Retail, GS Home Shopping, and startups with promising ideas collaborate to develop new products in the food sector, which has undergone significant changes due to the recent spread of COVID-19, the increase in single-person households, and dual-income couples.

Considering modern lifestyles, four categories were selected: ▲'Home Meal Replacement (HMR)' for easy cooking ▲'Snacks' for simple enjoyment instead of meals ▲'Medifood' tailored for specific targets such as the elderly, women, and infants ▲'Sustainable Food' to discover alternative ingredients addressing environmental issues. A total of five startups will be selected.

The final selected startups will jointly plan product development, manufacturing, and marketing strategies with GS Retail and GS Home Shopping, and their products will be sold through both companies' online and offline channels. To provide more systematic and professional support and nurturing, collaboration opportunities with GS Retail and GS Home Shopping’s MD and marketing departments, as well as food startups previously invested in by both companies, have been prepared.

GS Retail and GS Home Shopping will provide up to 20 million KRW worth of business support funds per selected startup team, along with 12 weeks of mentoring, space, and both human and material investments.

"Next Foodicon" is partnering with "WeCook," a shared kitchen service platform. WeCook will provide selected startups with office space, kitchen and manufacturing facilities capable of B2B distribution, and studio space, with related costs jointly borne by GS Retail and GS Home Shopping.

The 12-week program will proceed with test sales by the end of this year, followed by a full product launch early next year through both companies' channels, including GS25 convenience stores, GS Fresh Mall mobile shopping mall, and GS Shop of GS Home Shopping. Food startups wishing to participate in "Next Foodicon" can apply through the official Next Foodicon website by the 16th of next month.

Meanwhile, GS Retail is actively making strategic investments in domestic and international startups to discover future growth engines and new business opportunities in the distribution industry. Over several years, it has made direct and indirect investments in about 20 companies in countries including the United States, China, India, and Germany, creating business synergies linked to distribution and engaging in mutual growth activities.

In 2018, GS Retail made a direct investment in the U.S. organic online commerce company Thrive Market, promoting capability enhancement and ongoing exchanges between the companies. In 2017, it established a joint fund with Mirae Asset and used this fund to invest in the F&B business platform WeCook, leading to the current Next Foodicon project based on continuous networking.

Going forward, GS Retail plans to solidify its position as a distribution leader by leveraging its offline infrastructure of over 15,000 stores and operational know-how to strategically collaborate and mentor startups across various categories such as products, marketing, and logistics.

Jinseok Oh, Head of Strategy at GS Retail, said, "GS Retail and GS Home Shopping have been considering ways to grow together with startups, which led to the launch of this program. By jointly utilizing GS Retail’s offline platform and GS Home Shopping’s online channels, we aim to create synergy between affiliates and continuously engage in collaboration and mutual growth activities with capable startups."

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