Chorokmaeul, Will 'Chorok Bebe' Achieve Profitability?

Chorokmaeul Launches Infant Food PB Brand 'Chorok Bebe'
Diversifies Products by Child Development Stages
Focus on Achieving Profitability Through New Business

Chorokmaeul is accelerating performance improvement alongside external growth by launching a new brand specializing in infant food. In a domestic infant food market without an absolute leader, the company plans to secure an overwhelming market advantage with high-quality products and services based on over 20 years of experience handling eco-friendly and organic foods.

On the morning of the 22nd, Chorokmaeul held a press conference at its headquarters in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, announcing the official launch of its exclusive private brand (PB) for infant food, "Chorok Bebe." Chorok Bebe covers processed and fresh foods tailored to the child’s developmental stages, from early weaning (6 months old) to the transition to adult food (36 months old).

Chorok Bebe was planned and developed under the principle of "no compromise on infant food safety and quality." It only uses eco-friendly and organic raw materials that meet its own standards and excludes unnecessary artificial additives. The officially launched Chorok Bebe products include 42 fresh food items such as powdered baby food, portioned vegetables, minced vegetables, and minced livestock and seafood, as well as 17 processed food items like snacks, beverages, and side dishes, with a goal to release an additional 26 products within the year.

They also operate an exclusive membership called "Bebe Pass." With an annual membership fee of 12,800 KRW, members receive unlimited 10% discounts on Chorok Bebe products and a dedicated insulated bag, among benefits worth over 85,000 KRW. Members are provided with highly personalized customer relationship management, offering tailored information for each growth stage to promote proper eating habits and recommending recipes suited to infants’ tastes.

This new business by Chorokmaeul was pursued based on the judgment that there is market potential since no brand has yet dominated the entire domestic infant food market, including fresh ingredients and processed foods. Especially, as parents’ standards for quality and safety in their children’s food have become higher than ever, it is interpreted that launching a premium brand based on 24 years of expertise in the eco-friendly and organic market would be competitive. Kim Jaeyeon, CEO of Chorokmaeul, said, "By positioning Chorok Bebe as an anchor PB, we plan to continuously strengthen safe food for the whole family so that customers who enter through infant food can stay long-term within the Chorokmaeul worldview."

Chorokmaeul, formerly under Daesang Holdings, was acquired by the livestock specialty startup Jeongyookgak in April last year. Since the acquisition, Jeongyookgak has focused on improving infrastructure such as IT, logistics, and data, which were pointed out as weaknesses of Chorokmaeul. Following the complete redevelopment of the mobile application into a native app last month, this month they developed and introduced a search engine applying OpenAI GPT-4 into the Chorokmaeul mobile app. They also enhanced same-day delivery services linking approximately 380 stores nationwide with online orders.

As Chorokmaeul designates the infant food business as a new growth engine, attention is focused on whether it will succeed in turning a profit this year. Chorokmaeul has recorded operating losses for five consecutive years until last year, including a 4.3 billion KRW loss in 2018. At the time of acquisition last year, Jeongyookgak covered a funding shortfall of 32 billion KRW with a short-term loan from Shinhan Capital. Although the plan was to repay the loan through additional investment attraction, the investment market froze, leading to an extension of the repayment period. While overcoming the short-term liquidity crisis, additional funding and performance recovery are still needed, so Chorokmaeul is expected to accelerate profit improvement through this new business.

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