Medicinal Food
Korean health food brand "Cheong Kwan Jang" threw its hat in the ring to make new history in the duty-free shop industry as a. As the world's first ginseng brand recognized by Euro Monitor, "Cheong Kwan Jang Red Ginseng" has earned authority and love as the best health food from consumers in the East Asian region.
Last year, its sales exceeded one trillion won (US$855 million), a first in the health food industry in Korea. In particular, the Cheong Kwan Jang business has grown at 16 percent annually on average while earning 300 billion won (US$255 million) last year from the duty-free shops just in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, drawing attention from the industry. The red ginseng is being exported to over 40 countries as many people overseas want to buy the red ginseng, proving that the red ginseng is a representative health food of Asia. In particular, Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC) is selling the red ginseng directly through the overseas affiliates in the major markets such as China, Japan and Taiwan.
Well-being and health are now key keywords that lead the retail market, but not yet in the duty-free industry. Under the circumstances, Cheong Kwan Jang is planned to introduce a new category of “health food” to the global duty-free shop industry through the TFWA APEC 2017 exhibition, advancing into the markets of Asia and the Middle East. The company is anticipating to meet retailers who are operating duty-free shops and pursuing a diversification of products to meet the different needs of tourists from various countries like China at airports and downtown areas as well as on cruise ships and airplanes.
The signature products of Cheong Kwan Jang Red Ginseng are “Root Ginseng” that just packs the root as it is, “Red Ginseng Extract” that boils and concentrates red ginseng, and “Red Ginseng Extract Everytime” that contains the concentrate as in a liquid form and is packaged in stick. The products have optimized the various active ingredients of red ginseng based on the 118 years of manufacturing know-how and the gentrified raw material, enabling customers to enjoy the original taste and flavor of red ginseng. As a result, the products are being sold in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Guam while getting the greatest of praises
In particular, Cheong Kwan Jang will be showcased at this time’s exhibition via Cheong Kwan Jang Ginseng PLUS series as a travel retail exclusive product embracing family’s wish for the good health of its travelling member. "Cheong Kwan Jang Ginseng PLUS has been developed for people regardless of age and gender," said Douglas SY Lee, global business associate managing director of KGC. “We have strengthened its nutrition, portability and functional needs by target, so we are expecting the product to lead the trend of in the global duty-free shop,” he added.
In the Orient from ancient times, the word "medicinal food," which means that medicine and food come from the same sources, was originated from the belief that good food is good for human health as medicine is. There are a variety of popular recipes for health by country. Among them, red ginseng is widely used as a health food ingredient in Korea, China, Japan and Vietnam. Red ginseng, a steamed and dried ginseng, has been loved as a typical natural food by people for more than 2,000 years. The natural food made with top grade ginseng of Korea where ginseng was originated, Cheong Kwan Jang is a representative health product to help relieve travelers of fatigue. As anyone regardless of age and gender can eat enjoy the red ginseng freely, it is becoming a “family care” brand.
Cheong Kwan Jang Red Ginseng is also one of the most trusted health food brands. The red ginseng products from KGC, which celebrates its 118th anniversary this year, are famous for their thorough quality control and hygiene management. Cheong Kwan Jang Red Ginseng uses only the raw material that have passed the systematic quality and safety control process. KGC has been honoring a 100 years-old principle of making the red ginseng with only 6 years-old Korean ginseng which are managed by 100% contract-based cultivation. On top of that, the company has been strictly managing the quality of ginseng by conducting a total of seven times of inspections in 290 sectors across the entire process from the raw material management stage to the red ginseng manufacturing stage.