A housewife who used to make Korean snack, earns ten billion for 10 years

“All around the world, 한과(traditional cookie of Korea) is the only fermented snack. I’ll make 한과 global cookie that all people liked, which is made from natural materials without an artificial additive, having good-looking shapes.”

The president of 교동한과(Kyodong Hangoa), which takes more than 70 percent of Hangoa markets, Young-suk Sim, was housewife until her late-forties. At that time, her husband worked at a trading company. For husband’s foreign buyers, she had to choose gifts. Then, she thought, “How about to make traditional food that represents Korea”, then made 유가(Yougou, it is another name of Hangoa). She wrapped it up in Korean paper, 한지(Hanji). Foreigners, who tasted it, asked her to make a few boxes for present. Her husband invited her to start an enterprise formally, so she established ‘강릉교동한과(Gangneung Kyodong Hangoa)’ in 1999.

“I was so interested. When I made new product, customers liked it. It was very exciting. I did my best to make new 한과 which is good for health and tastes nice. Ten years just passed like one year.”

The company has grown more than 20 percent annually, last year in its 10-year history, exceeded 10 billion of total sales. The product, which is developed for exports, is ‘고시볼(Gosi ball).’ She said, “I worried how to make 한과 to suit all people’s tastes in the world. Thus, I decided to make small and soft snack that babies can eat. After freeze the right season fruits, dry it, grind, and cover it on snack. It becomes the most popular product.” 고시볼, which came out last May, sold so rapid that it has 15 percent of total company’s sales.

She said that “한과 has the advantage of well-being food. It is the task that makes 한과 good-looking and beautiful to attract foreigners.”

“Because 한과 is fermented snack, it hardly goes bad. Also, it doesn’t need to add a food preservative because of covered by grain syrup. It has ancient wisdom. I’ll draw traditional patterns in packing paper to inform Korea,” she told her ambition.

Reference:

http://www.gyodong.co.kr/