South Korean food and beverage corporation
Binggrae Co., Ltd. (Korean: ; RR: ; lit. smile), is a South Korean multinational food and beverage corporation that manufactures ice cream, milk products, and snacks. Binggrae was founded in 1967 by Hong Soon-ji as Daeil Corporation (Korean: ; Hanja: ; RR: ). The B in the Binggrae Logo is modeled after a heart.
History.
1960–1999.
Hong Soon-ji (Korean: ; MR: ) founded Daeil Corporation on 13 September 1967. Hong had founded the company with experience from making ice cream in Vietnam and selling it to the U.S. military in the 1960s. In 1971, Hong changed the name of the company to Daeil Dairy. In 1972, Daeil Dairy made a technological partnership with Foremost McKesson Inc., a company based in the United States. Due to handling issues, the Korea Explosives Group (later known as the Hanwha Group) acquired Daeil Dairy in 1973. Donong Plant 1 was also completed in Namyangju in 1973. In 1974, Binggrae's first mainstream products were released. Together (투게더), the first carton ice cream product made from raw milk in Korea was released in January of that year, and Banana Flavored Milk (바나나 맛 우유), a milk beverage was released in June. Starting in 1977, Daeil entered the fermented milk business (yogurt). In 1976, the partnership with Foremost Inc. ended, and the trademark was changed to Binggrae due to the Korean Language Purification Movement. In 1978, Daeil was listed on the Korea Stock Exchange. In 1982, Daeil Dairies was then renamed to Binggrae. The Gimhae Plant was completed in 1982. In 1984, Binggrae made a partnership with Nissin Foods to develop instant ramen, subsequently releasing urijib (우리집) ramen in 1986. In 1987, Binggrae opened the Binggrae Food Research Center and was designated as the official ice cream for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1991, Ssamanco (싸만코), an ice cream version of bungeo-ppang that contains red beans was released. Binggrae declared independence from the Hanwha group in 1992. In January of that year, Melona (메로나, Pronounced Merona), a creamy melon ice cream was released. In 1993, Binggrae was designated as the official ramen and ice cream supplier of the Daejeon Expo.
2000–present.
In April 2003, Binggrae made a business alliance with Samyang Foods, and moved its ramen business to Pulmuone in the same month. As of 2010, around 5.3 billion bottles of Banana Flavored Milk have been sold across the country. Binggrae acquired Haitai Ice Cream Co., Ltd. March 2020. As a result of the acquisition, Binggrae now holds 40.7% of the South Korean Ice cream market, and sales rose 19.6% in 2021 to 1.14 trillion won (US$949 million). Additionally, 70% of South Korean Ice cream exports to the United States were Binggrae products as of 2020. December 2021, Binggrae started working with ramen manufacturer Paldo to re-launch their ramen.
Binggrae acquired Haitai Ice Cream backed by an argument to the Korea Fair Trade Commission that it should greenlight the acquisition proposal because it would block Lotte Confectionery from monopolizing the South Korean ice cream market and raising prices. After the acquisition, Binggrae increased ice cream prices (effectively annulling their promise). Binggrae raised the prices of products such as "Together" and "Melona" by 25 percent. Its rival Lotte Confectionery also increased the prices of some of its products by the same percentage, thus making the ice cream market more expensive. Binggrae justified the price hikes with rising costs of imported materials. The company was fined 135 billion won for price fixing in 2022.
Marketing.
In the late 1980s to mid 1990s, Binggrae relied on television advertisements to spread its products. It promoted urijib (우리집) ramen by advertising it as the first ramen to contain tocopherol (1986), and promoted its "new" ramen by advertising it as a chemical free ramen (1996). Recently, Binggrae has turned to Korean idols and actors to promote its products. It promoted "super cone" with the Kpop group Wanna One in 2018, and estimated its sales would reach 10 billion won in sales by the end of the year, its Banana Flavored Milk with actor Ju Ji-hoon in 2021, and its Yoplait products with actress Lee Se-young starting in 2022. To compete with other food and beverage corporations, Binggrae has created its own "in-universe" with a backstory and characters. According to the JoongAng Ilbo, Binggrae has made Prince Binggraeus, a character, "the embodiment of Binggrae's identity". Prince Binggraeus is stylized to make parts of his outfit resemble and represent its products. For example, he carries a staff that is partially made of Melona and the tip being their crab snack kkotgerang (꽃게랑). Due to the "in-universe" advertisement campaign, Binggrae became the first South Korean food and beverage company to accumulate over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Main products.
Dairy: Banana Flavored Milk (1974), Yoplait (1983), Yoplait Dr. Capsule, Greek Yogurt Yopa, Acaffera, Oprut, True Milk
Ice Cream: Together (1974), Melona (1992), Heat Hunt (1989), BB Big (1975), Ssamanco (1991), Cledor, Babambar (originally Haitai's), Yomamddae (2004), Supercone, Ppongta
Snacks: Crab Snack (꽃게랑, 1986)
Awards.
President Lee Myung-bak has mentioned Binggrae as "The food and beverage company Binggrae and the National Pension Service, are taking the initiative and setting a good example in hiring people with disabilities."
Binggrae was awarded the presidential commendation at the '2020 Low-Carbon Living Practice Online National Congress' for contributing to carbon neutrality
Headquarters and branches.
Binggrae has 4 production plants: The Namyangju Plant, Gimhae Plant, Gwangju Plant, and Nonsan Plant.
References.
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