Nongshim has moved to cooperate on cosmetics development. It is unusual in itself as a "beauty expansion" by a representative ramen company, but what has drawn the industry's eye is the "timing." It came immediately after third-generation Oner Shin Sang-yeol, a Nongshim executive vice president, was appointed as an internal director. Some in the industry see it as a signal that presents the new-business direction under Executive Vice President Shin.
According to the retail and food industries on the 26th, Nongshim recently began research and development (R&D) cooperation on cosmetics by partnering with cosmetics maker FICC, using collagen ingredients from the health supplement brand Lifill. Nongshim will supply the ingredients and the partner will handle productization, expanding from "ingestible collagen" to "topical collagen."
Executive Vice President Shin is the grandson of the late Chairman Shin Chun-ho and the eldest son of Chairman Shin Dong-won. After being promoted to executive vice president in January, Shin has led the Future Business Office, overseeing investment, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and global business strategy. On the 20th, Shin was appointed as an internal director at Nongshim's regular shareholders meeting, officially joining the forefront of management.
Until now, Executive Vice President Shin has pursued the exploration of new businesses such as health supplements and smart farms. Still, there have been limited cases that have led to visible results. As a result, the industry has watched to see what Shin's first move would be after being appointed as an internal director.
Given this context, the newly disclosed collaboration also appears to be a move that emerged in the process of expanding new businesses. The strategy is not a single product but to broaden the business group based on ingredients, interpreted as an intent to secure a new growth engine beyond the existing ramen- and snack-centered business structure.
A food industry official said, "Considering that the 'beauty business collaboration' was revealed just four days after the internal director appointment, it is in fact more about showing the direction of new businesses to the outside," adding, "It reads as a signal to put more weight behind a particular business among the new businesses that had been dispersed." A retail industry official said, "I understand Lifill started as an in-house venture," and added, "From the perspective of the potential transition to an ingredient-based business, it seems they want to gauge whether functional ingredients held by a food company can expand into the inner-beauty and beauty markets."
Nongshim's latest move also aligns with the broader trend in the food industry to diversify into beauty. Notably, CJ CheilJedang's health supplement subsidiary CJ Wellcare is maintaining an inner-beauty strategy while focusing on advancing functional ingredients, and hy (formerly Korea Yakult) is expanding its beauty business into inner-beauty as well as ampoules and skincare products by using probiotic-based ingredients.
A Nongshim official said, "This collaboration is at the level of technology cooperation based on ingredients, and it is hard to see it as a separate entry into the cosmetics business," adding, "Lifill is already a brand operated as a separate division. It was pursued as an extension of the existing business."
Within the industry, there is interest in whether Nongshim's beauty collaboration will take hold as one pillar of a core new growth engine. A food industry official said, "Business expansion and diversification based on functional ingredients is an industry-wide trend," but added, "To make it settle as an actual business, brand, distribution, and revenue structure must all be in place, so execution that drives the new business will be crucial."
Lee Jong-woo, a professor in the Department of Distribution and Marketing at Namseoul University, said, "Health supplements and cosmetics are entirely different in industrial structure and required capabilities, so a food company does not immediately secure competitiveness just because it possesses functional ingredients," adding, "However, as a move reflecting the intent to gauge market response while seeking new growth engines, it appears to be part of the process of setting the direction for new businesses under the third-generation Oner system."