Customer Delight Melted the Consumption Freeze

2024 Asia Consumer Awards
Companies Reflect Consumer Preferences and Eco-Friendly Win-Win Strategies
Seeking Breakthroughs Amid Rapidly Changing Business Environment

The distribution industry has swiftly adapted to the rapidly changing business environment following COVID-19, overcoming crises. As the movement of consumers and goods was restricted, it sought breakthroughs through contactless services and e-commerce. The home meal replacement (HMR) market also expanded to allow consumers to enjoy food at home that rivals that of specialty restaurants or dining-out menus at reasonable prices.

After the transition to an endemic phase (periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases), despite evaluations that interest rates and prices soared and the domestic market reached its limits, companies improved product quality through continuous research and development (R&D) and expanded their scope by strengthening facility investments and marketing in overseas markets such as North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Management strategies that pursued sustainability, including healthiness, uniqueness, freshness as keywords reflecting the tastes of trend-sensitive consumers in their brands, as well as eco-friendliness, coexistence, and social value, also attracted attention. In an era of consumer polarization pursuing both ultra-premium products and cost-effectiveness (performance relative to price), related services were also expanded. A representative example is the dualization of distribution channels to enable offline personal experiences and satisfaction, and rational consumption on online platforms incorporating innovative technologies. In particular, management policies that refrained from raising prices to contribute to price stabilization for consumers whose wallets have thinned due to high inflation also received attention.

Above all, the most important value is consumer trust in the company, brand, product, and service. The ‘2024 Asia Consumer Awards,’ now in its 18th year, identified exemplary companies that appropriately responded to consumers’ demands expressed in various ways based on this criterion and shared their achievements in improving consumers’ quality of life.

Kang Kyung-sung, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, “The global K-content craze continues, with the whirlwind success of Baba Gimbap in the United States and the worldwide popularity of K-beauty products, further elevating the status of our brands. This is the result of our companies’ relentless efforts to quickly reflect consumer tastes and trends and to continuously change and innovate to enter the global market.”

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