Seoul Market Factory Co., Ltd. (CEO Kang Sang-woo), which has established itself as a premium handmade dumpling brand ＆Seoulmandu' is taking 2023 as the first year to leap forward as a comprehensive food company, expanding its handmade dumpling stores, launching a third-generation new product in the frozen dumpling market, and accelerating the expansion of the newly launched imported beverage brand ＆Biosteel'.

 

▲ Seoul Market Factory / CEO Kang Sang-woo

Putting taste and health trends into dumplings

Premium handmade dumplings ‘Seoulmandu’ have 11 directly managed stores in Seoul and Gyeonggi Hyundai Department Store

Launched in 2014 as Miseong FnC Co., Ltd., the company is a food company that has led the popularization of high-end handmade dumplings with its excellent taste, quality, and diverse menu lineup. A dumpling master with 53 years of experience in mastery recipes and skills made a special dumpling using 100% domestic pork, fresh vegetables, kimchi, and a sauce directly developed without soy protein, and the dumpling skin was thinned as much as possible to maximize the flavor of the dumplings, which captivated the taste of demanding consumers.

The Seoulmandu Store’s differentiated menu includes crispy and moist dumpling that is half-grilled in oil and half steamed, gyoza (meat/kimchi/Szechuan), fried gyoza, square king dumplings, plump shrimp meat (57.9%) and bamboo shoots, which combine the crunchy flavor of bamboo shoots, shrimp shomai, spicy triangular shrimp, steamed shrimp rolls/dumplings, red pepper japchae king dumplings, meat king dumplings, kimchi king dumplings, Sichuan king dumplings, and gyoza churros.

Starting with Hyundai Department Store Trade Branch, Seoulmandu Direct Store has a total of 11 stores, including Apgujeong, Pangyo, Mokdong, Cheonho, Sinchon, D-Cube City, Mia, The Hyundai Seoul, Hyundai Premium Outlet SPACE 1, and Seoul Asan Hospital.

It has grown steadily by maintaining stable sales amid its reputation as a handmade dumpling restaurant and a high-end dumpling restaurant where consumers line up to buy. 

In addition, the company is preparing a handmade dumpling renewal brand ‘Seoulmandu BLACK’ store that further enhances the taste and quality of Seoulmandu. First, it plans to renew one of Hyundai Department Store’s ‘Seoulmandu’ stores and open it in the second half of 2023. The strategy here is to sell the best premium handmade dumplings in the country, which can be described as dumplings.

 

Launched ‘Seoulbonmandu’ at Lotte Department Store Main Store in Seoul, spurring expansion of handmade dumpling stores

Launched a new product ‘Ovenmandu’ that combines the unique authenticity and trendy taste of Seoulmandu. 

Seoul Market Factory, which has been raising awareness of ‘Seoulmandu’ through Hyundai Department Store, is preparing to open a Lotte Department Store in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, starting with the launch of ‘Seoulbonmandu’ at the main branch of Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong in August 2022 to expand its handmade dumpling stores. Here, handmade Seoulmandu insist on their unique identity and principles, and present a menu that combines customer needs with trendy tastes. It has developed and launched ‘Ovenmandu’ as a representative new product, and this product is also being promoted to enter large domestic distributors.

 

Leading the advancement of the frozen dumpling market “Premium, delicious, different” B2B sales are on the rise

The game-changing next-generation product “Binghua mandu” will be launched in the first half of this year

Seoul Market Factory continues to develop high-end handmade dumpling products that surpass other products in terms of taste and quality, and is also targeting the highly competitive domestic frozen dumpling market in various ways. While the existing frozen dumpling market has been undergoing a generational change with juicy thin-skin dumplings due to the development of production equipment and technology, it has launched ‘Seoulmandu Shrimp Shomai’, ‘Gyoza Dumpling 2 Kinds’, which have frozen the taste and quality sold at Seoulmandu stores through years of research, ‘Xiao Long Bao’, a dim sum with rich gravy of chicken and pork and chewy dumpling skin, and ‘Three kinds of king dumplings’, which are sold online and offline.

The new product to be released next, Seoulmandu’s “Binghuamandu”, is evaluated as a game-changer for frozen dumplings in Korea and is gathering further expectations from consumers. Kang Sang-woo, CEO of Seoul Market Factory, said, “As it is a product that was created with great effort in product research and development after completing the trademark registration of Binghua () a long time ago, it will show the essence of Binghua dumplings. With easy-to-use recipes at home, it will meet consumers’ expectations by realizing the perfect visuals and excellent taste of snow blossoms like a specialty store’s menu”.  Before launching in the first half of this year, Seoul Market Factory is partnering with well-known domestic distribution brands to conduct pre-promotion and viral marketing through various SNS. 

In addition, ‘Mozzarella Kimchi Seoulmandu’ and ‘Seoulmandu Jeju Black Pork Rib Beef Beans’ were launched at the premium home convenience food (HMR) PB brand One Table (1 TABLE), which can only be found in the food hall of Hyundai Department Store, and received favorable reviews.

Seoulmandu’s frozen dumpling products are ‘premium-class’. Delicious. It is different from other products on the market”, and B2B sales are steadily rising in Chinese food franchise companies and high-end hotels and Chinese restaurants. In addition, in December 2022, as a result of live commerce on the Africa TV shopping platform Shopprika, dumplings became the first dumpling in the food sector to sell 230 million won during an hour-long broadcast.

Started selling of differentiated functional sports drink ‘BIOSTEEL’

Meanwhile, Seoul Market Factory acquired a Korean stake in the famous overseas ionic beverage ‘BIOSTEEL’ and started distribution in Korea. This functional sports drink that replenishes water and electrolytes lost from sweat before and after exercise to maintain body balance and it has been designated as an official sponsor drink of SSG LANDERS. Currently, Hyundai Department Store is focusing on expanding its distribution network by conducting delivery procedures with Hyundai To Home, Seven-Eleven, Olive Young Online Mall, E-Mart, and Shinsegae Department Store. 

Seoul Market Factory has researched and verified for a long time to realize the maximum taste of handmade dumplings and achieve differentiation and advancement of quality. Thanks to its past efforts, the company’s products are clearly growing in the online and offline home convenience food market, represented not only by Seoulmandu direct stores, but also by Naver Smart Store, Seven-Eleven, SSG, Market Curly, Lotte Super, E-Mart, and Hyundai Department Store Two Home.

CEO Kang Sang-woo, who is considered an innovation leader in the domestic food business, operates the company with a business philosophy of “taste that impresses leaves people,” focusing on consumers’ ever-changing tastes and market trends. With such determination, the company has generously invested in R&D to improve the taste and quality of dumplings and develop new products, dumpling manufacturing facilities and systems, and the purchase of better ingredients, securing a strong position in the handmade dumpling industry.

Seoul Market Factory, which has won brand prizes from three Korean newspapers for five consecutive years, is expanding its business area with various product lines such as beverages as well as trendy high-end handmade dumplings, diversifying its distribution network such as shopping, and laying a solid foundation towards a comprehensive food company. 

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