[Startup24+] Lowering Meat Prices and Increasing Freshness with the 'Online Pujutgan'

Livestock Direct Trading Platform 'Meatbox'
Integrated Sales, Delivery, and Settlement Services for Restaurants, Butchers, and Livestock Producers
Monthly Transaction Volume Exceeds 30 Billion KRW, Expected to Turn Profitable Next Year with Large-Scale Facility Investment in Yongin

Kim Ki-bong, CEO of Meatbox, is introducing the Meatbox mobile app. [Photo by Meatbox]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] 'Meatbox' is a direct livestock product trading platform. Typically, slaughtered livestock products are distributed from the primary importer (livestock farmer) through 1st to 3rd tier wholesalers and separate retailers to restaurants and butcher shops. Each step in this process increases the price of livestock products by at least 3%, and if the purchase quantity is small, the price rises sharply. Meatbox skips this process and provides an integrated service including sales, delivery, and settlement so that restaurants and butcher shops can trade directly with the primary importer.

Kim Ki-bong, CEO of Meatbox (pictured), said, "Livestock farmers can receive payment immediately, reducing the burden of credit and accounts receivable, and consumers can purchase livestock products at prices up to 30% cheaper."

For example, if a restaurant orders imported U.S. beef through Meatbox, it is delivered in refrigerated condition as soon as three weeks after slaughter, or at the latest within a month. Since the shelf life of beef is 90 days, this means consumers can enjoy the best quality beef that has not been frozen.

Another achievement of Meatbox is that suppliers, who previously did not disclose cost and profit structures in the livestock product distribution market, have now made pricing structures transparent. By disclosing wholesale market prices in real time, numerous suppliers are forced to compete with the highest quality and lowest prices.

Partnering with Ottogi Logistics to establish a nationwide delivery network, Meatbox adheres to next-day delivery after ordering at the consumer’s preferred time slot, resulting in explosive growth in transaction volume.

CEO Kim said, "Monthly transaction volume exceeded 30 billion KRW, surpassing the monthly break-even point in September, and we expect to turn a profit next year. Given the nature of the online mall, growth is steady, but we are considering various strategies for rapid growth." He expects the annual transaction volume this year to reach 316 billion KRW, an increase of over 30% compared to the previous year.

About 4-5% of the transaction volume is Meatbox’s commission, which directly translates into revenue. Therefore, Meatbox’s revenue this year is approximately 15 to 16 billion KRW.

Promotional photo of Meatbox. [Photo by Meatbox]

Investors highly value Meatbox’s growth potential. About a year after launching the Meatbox service in November 2014, SoftBank Ventures invested 3 billion KRW. In January 2018, Altos Ventures and others invested 8 billion KRW, and in November of the same year, IMM Investment and others added 15 billion KRW. A total of 26 billion KRW has been raised through Series C funding.

Meatbox plans large-scale investments to improve logistics facilities and order systems, including building a processing and logistics complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. To this end, CEO Kim and the company are selling part of their shares to attract additional investment.

CEO Kim worked as a livestock MD for 10 years at Ourhome, a company in the group catering business. Drawing on his experience traveling worldwide to find the cheapest and safest livestock products, he operated food service franchises such as Mr. Bossam and Standing Steak.

CEO Kim said, "In the future, value must be created from time. Reducing the time consumers spend ordering and the delivery time will be Meatbox’s competitive edge."

He added, "It feels like just yesterday that we started under the tentative name 'Online Butcher Shop,' but now we have become a company dreaming of going public beyond profitability. I want to continue growing this dream with our employees and aim to double the company’s size and go public as our current goal."

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