Comprehensive dining corporations "Tudari" said on the 19th it will shift from a domestic demand–focused dining business to a K-food company that handles manufacturing, research, development, and distribution, and will move into global expansion. It will also try to target people in their 20s and 30s by renovating stores.
Tudari held a "factory press tour and business vision announcement" event that day at the Tudari food plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, and stated accordingly.
Plant head Park Jae-pil (senior managing director) of Seosan said in a welcome address, "Tudari has grown as a national dining brand for 39 years, and now it is in a new leap forward to expand into food manufacturing and global business, based on accumulated know-how and technological prowess."
Executive director Lee Moon-gyu, head of the chain business division, said, "Tudari is evolving into a comprehensive K-food dining and food company encompassing production, research, and distribution, based on its dining operations experience," and unveiled a global strategy. Lee presented as key tasks the advancement of manufacturing competitiveness and quality control systems, strengthening an R&D-based new product development system, and a global operations strategy centered on overseas subsidiaries in China and Thailand.
During the tour that day, the Tudari food plant visited was in full manufacturing operation. It opened the entire process, from materials and supplies management to production, packaging, and hygiene systems. The Seosan plant is equipped with three main production lines. Plant 1 produces fish cakes, skewers, meatballs, croquettes, and a variety of foods, including Tudari's signature skewers and the ingredients used in them. Most of the production lines are automated, but skewer products were made by employees by hand. A plant official said, "When skewers are made by machine, the defect rate was high," adding, "Skilled workers make 1,400 skewers per person per month. The overall monthly average output is about 20,000 skewers."
Plant 2 manufactures retort products for delivery to partner companies, focusing on soups and stews such as galbitang and chueotang. The chueotang produced at Plant 2 that day was slated for delivery to Daesang Cheongjeongwon. In addition, it makes products sold under the Tudari brand through major channels such as Emart Traders and Costco. Plant 3 is the kimchi production line.
Tudari is a comprehensive dining corporations that has been maintained for 39 years since its founding in 1987. As of that day, it was operating about 1,300 stores nationwide. It has continued operational efforts such as ongoing store management, menu development, operation of dedicated plants, and expansion of logistics infrastructure. It produces frozen products such as skewers, stir-fries, and sauces in dedicated plants, including the Seosan plant unveiled that day. Through this, it has strengthened the B2C (business-to-consumer transaction) line by distributing to large domestic supermarkets and online malls, and expanded its business scope into B2B (business-to-business transaction).
It also operates an R&D team dedicated to menu development. In dedicated food plants in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, Daegu, and Incheon, it produces more than 80% of all ingredients, and supplies products based on a Cold Chain System to franchisees nationwide through logistics centers in Incheon, Seosan, and Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and a network of 23 branches nationwide. Tudari plans to push for expanded R&D investment in the food manufacturing institutional sector and the development of new products to target overseas markets.
Recently, it has been renovating stores to shed its old brand image. As of now, the new interior model has been applied to 250 of the 1,300 stores nationwide. In Dec. last year, it selected comedian Lee Su-ji as an advertising model and began promotions to raise brand awareness among customers in their 20s and 30s. Lee said, "In fact, after Lee Su-ji became our ad model, the age of prospective franchise owners hoping to start a business has been trending younger," adding, "We are indirectly feeling the ad effect, receiving assessments that 'I saw the Lee Su-ji ad' and that the 'friendly vibe' has changed perceptions of Tudari."
It is also active in overseas expansion. Tudari entered the global market by establishing local subsidiaries in China in 1996 and Thailand in 2010. In Oct. this year, it signed a master franchise deal in Canada and is set to enter the local market next year. Lee said, "After entering Canada and conducting market research on the local area, we plan to enter the United States as well."