Dongwon Strengthens Livestock Industry Beyond Tuna... Leap to 'Total Protein Provider'

Supplying High-Quality Protein Foods in Seafood and Livestock Sectors
Dongwon Home Food Geumcheon Division and Livestock Company Sejung Merge
New Meat Division Established, Targeting 800 Billion KRW Annual Sales This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] Dongwon Group is expanding its business area from the seafood industry to the livestock industry, aiming to become a ‘Total Protein Provider.’

On the 15th, Dongwon Group announced that it will carry out an organizational restructuring to establish a new meat division under its affiliate Dongwon Home Food.

The Dongwon Home Food meat division is a newly launched business unit formed by integrating the existing Geumcheon Business Division of Dongwon Home Food and Sejung, a livestock company recently acquired by Dongwon Group. Dongwon Home Food plans to grow its livestock product business, which recorded annual sales of 550 billion KRW last year, to 800 billion KRW this year through the meat division.

Through the meat division, Dongwon Home Food plans to create synergy by combining the distribution network and logistics system of the Geumcheon Business Division with Sejung’s know-how in processing and distributing B2C imported meat. Kang Dong-man, Head of Sales at Dongwon F&B (Executive Director, pictured), has been appointed as the CEO of the meat division. The appointment will take effect on the 23rd.

This organizational restructuring was made with the goal of Dongwon Group, which has traditionally supplied protein foods centered on seafood such as tuna and salmon, to actively expand its business area to the livestock sector and leap forward as a comprehensive protein food company, the ‘Total Protein Provider.’

In the food industry environment where protein food prices are soaring worldwide due to climate change such as global warming and the COVID-19 pandemic, Dongwon Group plans to produce high-quality protein foods across both seafood and livestock sectors and provide them to consumers at reasonable prices.

Since launching Korea’s first canned tuna, ‘Dongwon Tuna,’ in 1982, Dongwon Group has been responsible for protein foods on the tables of Korean people for over 40 years. In 2006, it entered the dairy industry by acquiring Haitai Dairy and operates the premium dairy brand ‘Denmark,’ offering various dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt.

Additionally, through its affiliate Dongwon Farms, established in 2007, the group operates a feed business to support the growth of livestock products including pig farming, poultry farming, and dairy farming. Last year, it invested in establishing a land-based salmon farming complex in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, and entered ‘farming fisheries’ to secure sustainable fishery resources, preparing for the future protein food industry.

The Geumcheon Business Division originated from Geumcheon, Korea’s largest B2B livestock product online distributor merged into Dongwon Home Food in 2015. It sells over 100 types of livestock products including Korean beef, pork, and imported meat to butcher shops, restaurants, and wholesalers. Since the merger, the Geumcheon Business Division has rapidly grown with an average annual sales growth rate of 25%.

Sejung, acquired by Dongwon F&B in July, is a B2C livestock product processing specialist company. It specializes in importing raw meat, processing it, and distributing it, securing various B2C sales channels including catering companies, discount stores, large supermarkets, and online malls. Last year, it also strengthened its production capacity by building a new meat processing plant.

With this organizational restructuring, Dongwon Home Food will operate a total of four business areas: the meat division, the ‘Food Ingredients & Seasoning Division’ responsible for food ingredient distribution and seasoning production, the ‘FS & Dining Division’ operating group catering and dining franchises, and the ‘Online Business Division’ operating the online grocery market The Banchan&.

CEO Kang Dong-man said, “With the launch of the meat division, Dongwon Group has strengthened its livestock business following its existing seafood business and has become a company that comprehensively takes responsibility for essential nutrients such as protein. We will become a ‘Total Protein Provider’ that offers products and services to consumers through various channels including offline, online, and O2O platforms.”

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