Shinsegae(004170) group affiliates are steadily expanding collaborations with Josun Hotels & Resorts. Beyond selling Josun Hotel kimchi and home meal replacements (HMR) via home shopping and e-commerce, the scope has recently broadened to menus leveraging hotel expertise, such as Peking duck, and to convenience-store meal kits. As competition intensifies among retailers both online and offline, this appears to be a move to differentiate products and win new customers by using the proven Josun Hotel brand.
According to the retail industry on the 6th, Shinsegae Group's home shopping affiliate 신세계라이브쇼핑 launched "red snow crab whole-head napa cabbage kimchi" in collaboration with Josun Hotel in Jun. It expanded the Josun Hotel kimchi lineup by adding products using red snow crab to the existing whole-head napa cabbage kimchi, green onion kimchi, mustard-leaf kimchi, and water kimchi with diced radish. In May, it developed Peking duck—until now mainly found at hotels or upscale Chinese restaurants—into a meal kit and sold it exclusively.
Collaboration between Shinsegae Live Shopping and Josun Hotels & Resorts was systematized in 2023 when an HMR-dedicated unit was created. An internal manager is assigned, and executives hold monthly meetings to co-plan new products based on AI analysis and accumulated data. The partnership, which began with mainstream items such as kimchi, short rib soup, and spicy beef soup, moved through about 20 HMR varieties including minced short rib patties, LA-style short ribs, and Hamburg steak, and has recently expanded to menus that put hotel expertise front and center, such as Peking duck.
Convenience store affiliate 이마트24 is also strengthening its collaboration with chef Son Jong-won of Josun Hotel. In Apr., under the theme "Day Off," meaning "food you enjoy in everyday life on a chef's day off," it introduced spicy pork assortment ssambap set, whole-sausage gimbap, and chicken sandwiches. From late Nov. to early Dec. last year, it sequentially released six "family meal" kits inspired by the everyday meals chefs and kitchen staff share.
Chef Son is the head chef overseeing "Eatanic Garden" at Josun Palace Seoul Gangnam and "L'Amant Secret" at L'Escape Seoul Myeong-dong. The two restaurants each received one star in the Michelin Guide Seoul 2026. Son also boosted public recognition by appearing on Netflix's variety show "Culinary Class Wars: Chef Hierarchy War 2."
In step with the expansion of inter-affiliate collaboration, related-party transactions at Josun Hotels & Resorts are also growing. According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, Josun Hotels & Resorts' "sales, etc." to related parties rose from 54.1 billion won in 2023 to 74.7 billion won in 2024 and 94.9 billion won last year, up about 75% in two years.
For the group's food affiliate Shinsegae Food(031440), sales, etc., increased from 21.3 billion won in 2023 to 22.5 billion won in 2024 and 28.7 billion won last year. For Shinsegae Live Shopping, sales, etc., climbed from 2.7 billion won to 8.7 billion won and 17.8 billion won over the same period, an approximately 6.7-fold rise, the steepest growth. For E-MART(139480), sales, etc., also increased from 9.5 billion won to 15.1 billion won and 16.5 billion won.
A key reason Shinsegae Group affiliates are expanding collaborations with Josun Hotel is the brand's proven competitiveness. Building a new premium food brand from scratch requires significant time and expense for product development and consumer awareness. In contrast, using the Josun Hotel name and chef recipes can lead even consumers who haven't tried the products to expect a certain level of taste and quality.
The collaborative products are also contributing to actual customer acquisition. At Shinsegae Live Shopping, Josun Hotel kimchi has surpassed a cumulative 45 billion won in sales and 700,000 units sold from its first sale in 2016 through Jun. About 50,000 customers made repeat purchases two or more times. Notably, 40% of customers who bought kimchi later purchased other items such as fashion. In other words, Josun Hotel collaboration products not only lift food sales but also draw customers into other categories.
The general rise in food and dining prices in recent years is also cited as broadening the consumer base for hotel-branded products. An industry official said, "As persistent inflation narrows the perceived price gap between ordinary dining or premium meal kits and hotel products, it has become easier for consumers to pay an additional expense to choose a hotel brand," adding, "Hotel collaboration products also meet the needs of consumers who want to experience hotel flavors at a lower expense than lodging or fine dining."