Efforts behind recent rise in popularity date back decades

Delivery services, grocery shopping enjoy surges in popularity while department stores, tourism industry fret over stricter social distancing

Sales of Hite Jinro’s soju products in Thailand reached $1.55 million in the first half of 2021, up 210 percent from the corresponding period last year, said the South Korean liquor maker on Wednesday. Hite Jinro is the longtime provider of some of the oldest soju brands in South Korea, including Jinro, Chamisul and, recently, Jinro Is Back. Since its pledge to globalize soju in 2016, the liquo...

South Korean food company Lotte Foods is expanding the exports of its canned ham products with a goal of doubling the profit from ham exports this year, the company said Tuesday. Lotte Foods said it achieved $9.4 million from exporting a total of 1,111 tons of canned ham in 2020 -- accounting for almost half of the country’s total ham exports at 2,249 tons in the year. As of June this year, the...

New shakeup reflects a push to appeal to younger consumers

Emart24 is introducing an artificial intelligence-based alcohol vending machine that would support its fully unmanned operation of convenience stores, the company said Sunday. Installed at its store headquarters in Seongdong-gu in Seoul, the machine looks like a drink refrigerator and requires customers to scan a QR code issued from a mobile app to verify their age before making purchases. Paym...

South Korean food manufacturing company Ottogi announced on Friday it will raise its instant ramen prices by an average of 11.9 percent from next month. The company cited rises in ingredient prices, including flour and palm oil, as well as the increasing labor costs as reasons behind the decision. The decision to hike the ramen prices comes more than 13 years after the company‘s last price rise...

More than 1 in 3 of delivery workers of CJ Logistics, the industry’s largest, are in their 20s and 30s, the company’s data showed Thursday, contrary to the popular perception that couriers come from older generations. Some 8,100 delivery workers fall under the age groups, accounting for 37 percent of some 22,000 delivery workers. The findings are based on an analysis of its staff during the firs...

South Korea's major convenience store chain CU said Thursday it has launched two stores in a new international airport in Mongolia as part of efforts to boost its presence in the country. CU said the company has become the first South Korean convenience store chain that has established outlets in the New Ulaanbaatar International Airport. The sole international airport in Mongolia, which opened...

1 in 5 convenience stores now closed after midnight

Interpark seeks new owner, following footsteps of eBay Korea

After a cluster of COVID-19 infections was reported at a department store in Seoul, large retail outlets are fearing it will cause a ripple effect and scare shoppers away. As of Sunday, nearly a week after the first infection was identified at Hyundai Department Store’s branch at Coex, Gangnam, at least 118 cases have been found to be linked to the store. The first patients were two staffers wh...

E-commerce platform 11st will begin selling an entire line of BTS tumblers and bottles produced by New York-based design company Built New York in collaboration with the South Korean pop group, in Korea on Monday. Though a bottle and a tumbler inspired by BTS’ video for “Idol” were released in June, a total of 16 items will be sold for the first time in the country through a live show known as “...

Revenue, income and jobs all declined

South Korean supermarket chain Homeplus has appointed former CEO of McDonald’s Korea Cho Ju-yeon as its new chief marketing officer, in an executive reshuffle announced on Thursday. Cho made headlines in 2016 when she became the first female CEO at the South Korean unit of the fast food restaurant. Hwang Jeong-wook, who formerly served as the chief financial officer at the Korean unit of AstraZ...