Sung-min Koo, CEO of meal kit company Food Supply, recalls the dire situation of his business just a few years ago in April 2017. His company had only sold two meal kits online over two weeks. “It was ridiculous,” Sung-min said. “I had very little income for a year after starting the business.”
What a difference a few years can make. Today, Food Supply sells up to 300,000 products a month, producing 5,000 to 10,000 meal kits per day at its plant in Icheon. Recently, Food Supply was selected as an official partner for Samsung Electronics’ cooking appliance Bespoke Qooker, making meal kits in collaboration with Samsung.
“We were able to grow from rock bottom because of Rocket Fresh, which we joined at the end of 2019,” said Sung-min. Food Supply posted sales of KRW 1.7 billion in 2019, which jumped to KRW 6.2 billion in 2020 once the company pivoted towards Rocket Fresh. In September 2021, Food Supply already surpassed its 2020 annual sales, with KRW 7.1 billion in sales in the nine-month period. Currently, Coupang accounts for 55% of the company’s revenue.
Sung-min’s story is a perfect example of how the high-quality products of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), combined with Coupang’s cutting-edge e-commerce technology and massive logistics infrastructure, can lead to spectacular success for small merchants.
Before starting his company, Sung-min worked as a chef for Michelin three-star restaurants in Europe, including Spain’s Akelarre. With a dream of eventually starting his own restaurant, Sung-min created his meal kit startup to raise the necessary funds. With his years of experience, Sung-min developed the products himself, including Food Supply’s truffle cream cheese gnocchi and chipotle and pineapple sauce tacos. Without any income to pay his employees, he paid salaries through a mortgage on his home.
Despite the obvious excellence of his products, logistics and delivery proved to be major issues. Food Supply used fresh ingredients received at the plant every morning for its products, which it shipped out the same day. The e-commerce services he used before Rocket Fresh simply couldn’t deliver fast enough to guarantee the freshness that was critical to his high-quality meal kits.
“With Rocket Fresh, however, products ordered in the evening arrive at dawn the very next day, making it a truly sensational distribution channel,” said Sung-min. “Coupang is also the only place in the country where fresh products can be shipped on the same day, so our company was able to become very competitive.” He emphasized that his company’s rapid growth simply would not have been possible without the speed of Rocket Fresh.
Sung-min noted that another major advantage for an SME like Food Supply was Coupang’s direct purchase structure, in which Coupang purchased products directly from SMEs rather than charging a commission fee per order. “With Coupang’s direct purchase, we no longer have to worry about logistics,” said Sung-min. “All we have to do is make a lot of high-quality products and send them to Coupang.”
The explosive growth on Coupang has transformed the company. Before Food Supply partnered with Coupang, it had only 10 employees. Just two years later, the company expanded to over 30 employees, with the vast majority now being hired full-time.
“I’m still learning what it means to be a CEO,” said Sung-min. “I dreamt of becoming a restaurant owner and chef, but my thoughts have changed since I now have more than 30 employees in the company. He added, “I want Food Supply to grow into a meal kit company that provides new experiences to customers.”
