Bum Seok Austin Kim, chief executive of Woowa Brothers, said on the 8th, "We will create an environment where partners (restaurant owners) can focus solely on their business by advancing our services and actively adopting artificial intelligence (AI) functions, and we will strengthen a variety of growth opportunities in step with the times." Woowa Brothers operates Baemin, the No. 1 platform in Korea's delivery market by market share.
Kim made the remarks at the "2025 Baemin Partner Festa," held on the morning of the 8th at the aT Center in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, speaking about the "Baemin 2.0" vision. "We will spare no support and technology investment so that (partners) can regain confidence that they can grow through Baemin," Kim said.
Now in its sixth year, Baemin Partner Festa is an event open to anyone interested in the restaurant industry, including Baemin's onboarded partners and prospective entrepreneurs. This year's slogan is "a voyage to find our store's tomorrow," conveying a message that even amid rapid changes in the restaurant industry, Baemin and its partners should not lose their direction and should prepare for tomorrow together.
Kim said he would use "partner" instead of the existing title "owner," which had been used to address restaurant owners. "A change in titles is a change in relationships," Kim said, adding, "The name partner carries a promise to grow together."
Baemin's vision to be unveiled next year has two parts. First, Baemin plans to automate and make intelligent the entire store operation process. By simplifying complex operational elements such as orders, deliveries, marketing, and customer management through AI and data analysis, the goal is to enable stores to "by themselves" choose efficient methods with minimal settings. "The AI era is when things we only imagined become reality," Kim said. "We will make Baemin an AI adviser."
The second vision is to discover new growth opportunities. The "One Bowl (single-serving) service," launched this year, is cited as a representative example. By removing the minimum order amount and optimizing for a single-person consumption culture, the One Bowl service surpassed 20 million orders seven months after launch. Stores that adopted this service saw their order volume increase by an average of 30%. "As solo dining has become the default, the One Bowl service was a strategy aligned with the times," Kim said. "Baemin will read the opportunities (of the times) first and help partners seize them."
A panel talk with partners also continued the discussion on AI and growth strategies. "We will also strengthen AI functions that assess store conditions on their own and propose necessary improvements," Kim said, adding, "Our goal in the restaurant industry is for Baemin to become partners' AI (like ChatGPT), including automating ad price adjustments and managing peak order times."
Questions also arose about delivery quality and rider assignment. "Customers, riders, and partners are three entities that interlock in real time," Kim said. "Balancing them is not easy, but safeguarding both speedy delivery experiences and rider safety is Baemin's responsibility." To that end, Baemin is pursuing: ▲ increasing the number of riders by more than 30% year over year ▲ applying a delivery fee optimization method in situations where rider assignment is difficult, such as inclement weather ▲ establishing "Baemin Rider School," a specialized training institution for riders.
"The voices from the field heard through today's (the 8th) panel talk became a major guide to the direction Baemin should take," Kim said. "The delivery ecosystem becomes healthy only when the four entities—customers, partners, riders, and Baemin—create a virtuous cycle for one another. We will build a sustainable delivery ecosystem where everyone is satisfied and grows together."