[폴인인사이트] Oden Restaurant, the secret of 115% growth in sales of Peacock Milk Kit, hit by hand-held bagged stew

“I didn’t know it would more than double in the year. But the Home Meal Replacement (HMR) market is in its infancy. I think HMR will account for more than 30% of the fresh food market within 10 years.”

Consumers tired of delivered food are boosting the HMR market. According to Nielsen Korea, the size of the domestic HMR market is 3122 billion won as of 2020. Growth over the past three years has more than doubled. The terrifying growth of HMR is led by Milkit and RMR (Restaurant Meal Replacement, or RMR). A product consisting of a set from ingredients to seasoning is called a milk kit, and a product that reproduces the menu of a famous restaurant is called RMR.

The Picoque Milk Kit from E-Mart, the largest supermarket in Korea, is also growing scary. As of the end of 2020, it recorded 115% year-on-year growth, reaching 35 billion won in annual sales. Kim Beom-hwan, a partner who has been leading the development of the Peacoke Milk Kit product from the beginning, said, “Milkit, which was treated as an aemul complex because of its high production cost and short distribution period, became a filial product after the coronavirus.”

What is the difference between’popping’ milk kit products? How far will the milk kit market grow? Bum-Hwan Kim, who has been with Peacock’s growth for 5 years, participated as a speaker at Paulin’s online seminar on Feb. I will share. The following is one question and one answer with Kim’s partner.

Bum-Hwan Kim’s partner in charge of product development in the E-Mart Picoque development team. We have developed a variety of milk kit products, including the Gosu’s gourmet series. [사진 폴인]

HMR, you raised your hand in charge of milk kit.

Previously, I worked as a buyer buying tofu and kimchi. It was a job to prepare products for the store in consultation with many manufacturers. However, there are many cases where customers don’t have the product they want, and the idea of’It would be nice if there is such a product’ came up. With the creation of the Peacock development team, a department that can directly participate in product planning was created and applied directly. In the early days, as a distribution company tried to develop it, there were no internal cases, so we had a lot of difficulties. But now, I am proud that it is growing well by establishing a sales line as a single product that is recognized in-house and can only be found at E-Mart.

What is the number one product sold among many milk kit products?

Among the go-su’s gourmet series,’Oden Restaurant Budgejigae’ is the best selling. Monthly sales of over 30,000 units and 300 million won are recorded. Our customers are in their 40s the most. A family of 4 is average. The menu called’Bae-jjigae’ seems to have sold well because both men and women of all ages know well and the likes and dislikes are not very different. For example, Milfeuille or Gambas is a menu that younger generations know and love. Unlike other bag stew, it is made in a container type so that it can be cooked and eaten right away. Also, since it’s winter, soup dishes such as wheat-feu-yunabe and sukiyaki are popular in addition to Bakji stew.

Peacock Coriander’s gourmet restaurant,’Oden Restaurant Baejigae’. It is a product launched in collaboration with Oden Restaurant, a restaurant in Uijeongbu Baejigae. [사진 이마트]

The Peacock Milkit products weren’t very popular at first.

The Peacock Milk Kit, which was first introduced in 2019, came out with the title of’Seoul Cooking Center’. At that time, consumers didn’t know much about Milkit, so we prepared a strategy to introduce a convenient product called’Milkit’. However, the identity of the dishes did not appear clearly in the package, the shelf life was short, and the production cost was high, so the response was not good to consumers and internally. After a disastrous failure, the re-launch process focused on the menu itself, not the milk kit. The product packaging method was also changed to a sleeve type so that you can see it at a glance as if it contained real dishes, and above all, we focused on the most important’taste’. I think it is a popular factor that the taste is superior to the existing HMR.

Is it difficult to develop RMR (Restaurant Meal) like’Gosu’s Restaurant’ than general milk kit products?

It takes much longer to develop. Normal milk kit products are available in 3-4 months, but RMR usually takes 5-6 months. First of all, it is not easy to convince a restaurant. It tastes similar to the original recipe, but requires mass production. It goes through trial and error, making samples and comparing tastes. Restaurant representatives are also very picky about whether they have implemented the taste properly, so the unit price may increase a lot.

Which restaurants are selected as’Gosu’s Restaurant’ product development partners?
Thankfully, more and more restaurants are suggesting’let’s make a milk kit together’ first. Create a scorecard in two steps to assess marketability. Detailed evaluation items will be revealed at the seminar.

What are your plans for the future?

We are introducing eco-friendly packaging. Consumers have become very sensitive to environmental issues. It would be best to use a paper container, but it is twice as expensive as plastic. We also offer menus using seasonal ingredients and products in collaboration with brands. With Milk Kit, the HMR market is growing significantly, and consumers’ tastes and needs are also diversifying, and we are preparing a variety of products accordingly.

Paul in Online Seminar on February 17 〈Cooking Human Age: HMR Becomes a Trend〉

In Paulin’s online seminar 〈Cooking Mankind’s Era: HMR Becomes a Trend〉, delivered by Partner Kim directly, you can hear more detailed stories from the selection criteria for’Piccoque’s’Gourmet Restaurant’ to the behind-the-scenes of product development. The seminar will be held online from 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17, and applications can be made on the Paulin website.

Source

Share this:

Related