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Food & Beverage

Dongwon aims to rise from canned tuna maker to F&B giant

Started as a blue-collar worker making canned tunas, the group leader is actively expanding its business scope

By Sep 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)

2 Min read

Dongwon's premium tuna gift set
Dongwon's premium tuna gift set

For many South Koreans, particularly among the older generation, Dongwon is the name of the company that makes canned tunas, for which the food maker is best known for decades.

Kim Nam-jung, the vice chairman of Dongwon Group and the de facto leader of the food and logistics conglomerate, wants his business to be remembered not just as a canned tuna maker but also as a food and beverage giant that also covers home meal replacements (HMRs) and meat substitutes.

Dongwon F&B Co., the country’s largest producer of canned tuna, said on Wednesday its subsidiary, Dongwon Home Food Co., is strengthening its meat processing and distribution business by entering the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector.

Dongwon Home Food started its meat processing business in 2015 when it acquired Geumcheon Meat, a livestock wholesale online mall operator. But Geumcheon largely focused on the business-to-business sector.

More recently, Dongwon took over Sejoong, a local meat processing and distributing company, in July this year.

Founded in 2009, Sejoong has been engaged in the business of importing and processing imported meat and distributing it to wholesale and retail outlets.

Dongwon said it aims to strengthen its competitiveness in the B2C livestock market through the acquisition of Sejoong.

Dongwon Group Vice Chairman Kim Nam-jung
Dongwon Group Vice Chairman Kim Nam-jung

STARTED AS BLUE-COLLAR WORKER

Dongwon Group said Vice Chairman Kim hopes to take the conglomerate to the next level by transforming it into a “total protein supplier.”

In addition to a wide range of packaged seafood, Dongwon provides outsourced meals, operates cold-storage facilities and has a logistics operation.

A graduate of Korea University, Kim started his career at Dongwon as a blue-collar worker, making canned tunas, at Dongwon Industries Ltd. in 1996.

The younger son of Dongwon Group founder Kim Jae-chul, the junior Kim has been the de facto leader of the conglomerate since his father in April 2019 announced his resignation as the group’s top man after 50 years of leadership.

Since taking office as vice chairman in 2014, the younger Kim has been known for his aggressive pursuit of mergers and acquisitions, adding logistics arm Dongbu Express in 2016 and a number of overseas businesses in recent years.

In 2016, Dongwon also acquired Deobanhan, a side-dish making and delivery service provider.

Dongwon's canned tuna gift set
Dongwon's canned tuna gift set

Dongwon F&B is also operating in the alternative meat market. It is a key supplier in the domestic market of imported meat substitutes in the beef, pork and poultry categories under an exclusive contract with Beyond Meat, a Los Angeles-based producer of plant-based alternative meat.

As a result of Dongwon F&B’s business diversification efforts, canned tunas now account for just 12% of its total revenue.

In 2020, Dongwon Group’s consolidated operating profit increased 81% to 545. 2 billion won ($465 million) from the previous year, while sales rose 5.6% to 7.96 trillion won.

In the first half of this year, the group posted an operating profit of 229.8 billion won on revenue of 4.06 trillion won.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
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