Six best wines to buy for Lunar New Year

Distiller HiteJinro has released a wide range of wine gift sets ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday season. The new range includes bottles from internationally renowned wineries such as Cambria, Sterling and Tarapaca as well as Marques de Riscal and Taittinger. From best-value bottles to limited editions, the gift sets range in price from 50,000 won ($42.25) to 1 million won. Hailing from multiple countries with different tastes, they make for great gifts to loved ones during Seollal, the comp

Jan. 27, 2021

Philip Morris Korea named 'top employer' in Asia Pacific

Philip Morris Korea Inc. has been certified as the ‘Top Employer Asia Pacific 2021’ for its ‘people-centric’ HR philosophy and management amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said Tuesday. The South Korean unit of the global cigarette and tobacco manufacturing firm also bagged the ‘Top Employer South Korea 2021’ prize from Top Employers Institute, while winning the honor for the Asia Pacific region for two years in a row. Praveen Upadhyay, Philip Morris

Jan. 26, 2021

Live commerce catches on as retailers focus on online shopping

South Korean retailers are rushing to tap the emerging new trend of live commerce, which combines streaming and e-commerce. Hyundai Home Shopping said on Monday it aims to reach 100 billion won ($90.5 million) in sales from its live commerce channel this year, after their latest data showed sales jumped fivefold last year. Sales generated from the company’s live commerce business in 2020 reached 28.5 billion won, up nearly 500 percent from 5 billion won in 2019, according to their latest

Jan. 26, 2021

Golden Blue to become first Korean whiskey to be exported to US

South Korean whiskey company Golden Blue said Monday that its Golden Blue Sappirus will hit the US market in February. Having been shipped Saturday, the blue-bottled whiskey will become the country’s first locally produced whiskey to be exported to the US, the largest market in the world, the company said. “Entering the US market is moving one step closer to the globalization of K-alcohol drinks,” said CEO Kim Dong-wook. Kim added that he’s certain that three years of

Jan. 25, 2021

[Herald Interview] Microbiome key to personalized health supplements

While the human body is composed of some 30 trillion cells, the number of microorganisms, including bacteria, outnumber the cells to about 38 trillion, and they have tremendous effects on our physical health. Now with advanced technologies, individuals will soon be able to analyze the genetic information of microbials in their guts so they can find personalized health supplements with “optimal” effects, Cho Yang-hee, the vice president of Amway Korea said in an interview with The

Jan. 25, 2021

Direct purchasing from overseas increases by 71% in 2020 with COVID-19: Malltail

While global travel has come to a virtual standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people have turned to buying goods directly from overseas retailers last year, a delivery service company said Monday. According to Malltail Korea Center, which offers parcel forwarding services for Korean consumers who purchase goods directly from overseas sellers, the number of orders made in 2020 through their platform jumped by about 71 percent from the previous year. Malltail said purchase data also showe

Jan. 25, 2021

Retailers get ready for Lunar New Year

Retailers are anticipating a surge in online shopping in the coming weeks ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, widely known as Seollal in South Korea. Leading Korean e-commerce business Tmon said Monday that the volume of orders generated from its “contactless gift-giving” service saw a 452 percent increase during the past two weeks. Nearly 7 in 10 shoppers purchased items priced below 30,000 won ($27.20), the data also showed, up 7 percent from last year’s figu

Jan. 25, 2021

Beauty stores ‘battered’ by coronavirus pandemic

Once the symbol of South Korea’s K-beauty boom, cosmetics franchise stores are now declining at an alarming rate as international tourism dwindles and online shopping takes the spotlight during the pandemic. Myeong-dong, one of the most popular downtown shopping districts, took the shopping crunch hard. Its stores, which used to bustle with tourists from China, Japan and various Southeast Asian states, are now struggling to survive in the high-rent district amid a dwindling number of visi

Jan. 24, 2021

Gopizza achieves monthly sales of W100m in Singapore

Gopizza, a Korean pizza franchise specializing in single servings, saw sales break past SG$100,000 ($75,000) in Singapore in December, eight months after its first launch in the country, the company said Thursday. The pizza franchise tapped into the Singaporean market in April 2020, and has been seeing its monthly sales rise steadily, with an increase rate of 20 percent in average following the opening of new outlets, the company said. With December sales of SG$110,000, Gopizza attributed i

Jan. 21, 2021

Samyang Foods vows to focus on ESG program

Samyang Foods on Thursday unveiled a new corporate management vision that focuses on environment, society and improved corporate governance. The company, known globally for its popular Buldak Spicy Chicken noodles, said it plans to launch an audit committee and a compensation committee in March to actively promote transparency and environment-friendly values in business management. “This year, we will create social values by actively promoting ESG management,” Samyang Foods Pres

Jan. 21, 2021

Jin Air’s ready meals become a hit amid home meal replacements boom

Low-cost carrier Jin Air has sold over 10,000 of its in-flight themed ready meals in their first month, according to the airline -- nearly one every four minutes. The ready-meal series including beef goulash pasta, rice with cashew chicken chwinamul (aster leaves) and cream pasta was released in November, themed after in-flight meals to cater to those who miss airplane food. “It appears many customers are enjoying our ready-meals to remember the excitement of traveling and quench the thi

Jan. 21, 2021

Coway’s air purifier wins accolades at CES

For a sixth year in a row, Coway has won honors at this year’s CES technology show, the company said Thursday. The South Korean firm’s air purifier AP-1019D has been recognized for its innovative technology and design at the CES Innovation Awards. Sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association, the organizer of the CES, the awards honor outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products across 28 product categories. Coway has received the honor in the home app

Jan. 21, 2021

Speculation over eBay’s sale of Korean unit grows amid appointment of new local CEO

EBay Korea appointed Chun Hang-il as its new chief executive officer on Wednesday, amid growing speculation that the US e-commerce firm is poised to sell its business interests in South Korea. Chun, who previously led the Japanese unit of eBay, will take over from outgoing CEO Byun Kwang-yun from Thursday. The leadership shakeup comes a day after the online retail giant announced it was looking at “alternatives for its Korea business” amid growing competition from the likes of Cou

Jan. 20, 2021

Coupang offers up to 50% discount for 'global shopping day'

From Tuesday, Coupang is holding a two-day special promotion event, offering up to 50 percent discount on products purchased overseas and products directly imported by the e-commerce firm, the company said Tuesday. During the Jan 19-20 Global Shopping Day, time-limited discount will be provided at 11 a.m. every morning, where items like Samsung 55in Class 8 Series LED Smart Tizen TV, Fujifilm’s instant camera Instax, Ivory Aloe Cosmetic Soap, four-in-one Badger Green Classic Lip Balm 4-S

Jan. 19, 2021

Myeong-dong: Korea’s largest shopping street faces extended crisis

Bustling, noisy and lively -- it is how Myeong-dong used to be described as Seoul’s premier shopping district. Packed with tourists, food stands and long lines of shops, it is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world, according to global property firm Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Main Streets Across the World report. But a quick walk around the shopping district nowadays makes it clear that things have drastically changed -- and for the worse. With many shoppe

Jan. 17, 2021

Market Kurly wins packaging award for cooling cardboard box

Grocery delivery firm Market Kurly has won an award for its insulation packaging from the World Packaging Organization, the company said on Friday. The WorldStar Global Packaging Award was given to 194 recipients this year, including Market Kurly, which won the prize in the transit category for its eco-friendly insulated corrugated box. The recyclable, corrugated packaging mimics the insulation effect of a cooler with a pad attached to the insides of the box, allowing a layer of air to form b

Jan. 15, 2021

Starbucks’ first store with disabled staffs hailed as an exemplary

A month into its operation, Starbucks Coffee Korea’s first store committed to making a better workplace for workers with disabilities is showing early success, the coffee chain said Thursday. In early December, Starbucks Korea opened a new store inside Seoul National University Dental Hospital, filling half of its 12 staff positions with people with disabilities. From the initial design stage, the US-based coffee chain took in opinions to make the outlet a disability-friendly space fo

Jan. 14, 2021

CheongKwanJang’s red ginseng gains spotlight amid pandemic

As people looked for ways to enhance their immune system amid the coronavirus pandemic, red ginseng is enjoying a surge in popularity both in Korea and elsewhere, according to Korea‘s leading red ginseng brand CheongKwanJang. “Since the coronavirus outbreak, consumption of red ginseng in Korea has risen for its immune-boosting and other health benefits,” one official at Korea Ginseng Corp. said on Wednesday. “Korean Red Ginseng Concentrated Extract, made of 100 percent

Jan. 13, 2021

S. Korean retailer confidence worsens for Q1

A majority of South Korean retailers expect their business conditions to worsen slightly in the first quarter of 2021 than three months earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Wednesday. The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said its retail business survey index (RBSI) stood at 84 for the January-March period of the year, down from 85 three months earlier. The figure is based on a poll of some 1,000 retail businesses across the nation. A reading below 100 means that pessimis

Jan. 13, 2021

Nongshim expands vegan brand Veggie Garden

Responding to heightened public interest in environmental protection, Nongshim will aggressively promote its vegan food brand Veggie Garden this year, the South Korean food company said Tuesday. Veggie Garden is a convenience food brand developed by the Nongshim R&D Center and the group’s affiliate Taekyung Nongsan, using a manufacturing technology for plant-based meat alternatives. “After we came up with our test products in 2017, we worked with famous vegan chefs in Seoul t

Jan. 12, 2021