E-Land expands fresh food wholesale B2B business

Facility to breed abalone in Jindo, South Jeolla Province [Photo provided by Kim’s Club]

E-Land Kim’s Club, which operates grocery chain business in South Korea, plans to set up a specialized wholesale company to supply meat and other fresh farm produces from its own farm to other distributors as part of its trailblazing efforts to cut distribution costs through a direct farm-to-table approach.

According to industry sources on Sunday, E-Land Kim’s Club is working to transform its wine importing unit into E-Land Farm & Food (tentatively), a wholesaler dedicated to agricultural, livestock and fishery products for direct delivery from farm to other local distributors.

The supply price at Kim’s Club under this model is expected to be 30 to 40 percent cheaper than that of existing grocery stores, said a Kim’s Club official, adding that other retailers will be able to sell fresh food from Kim’s Club to their consumers at a reasonable price as well.

E-Land Kim’s Club has drawn attention from the retail industry for its farm-to-table model for Korean beef. The company currently raises more than 500 heads of cattle in two farms in Jangheung, South Jeolla Province. In March, the company purchased 110 calves and began breeding with a goal of cutting the retail price in the local beef market.

The first batch of Korean beef raised by the company is due to be out in January next year through its nationwide Kim’s Club stores. The company expects to ship meat from a total of 200 heads of cattle on an annual basis next year. E-Land Kim’s Club aims to provide meat products at a more than 30 percent lower price compared to large distributors based on 1++ grade meat.

E-Land Kim’s Club is also expanding its farm-to-table model to seafood products. Since the end of February, the company is directly operating a facility to breed abalone in Jindo, South Jeolla Province. Under the model, the company has already succeeded in lowering the supply price by more than 20 percent compared to the conventional retail channel.