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| Jumbo shrimp dumplings / Courtesy of Dongwon F&B |
By Yoon Sung-won
Dongwon F&B is boosting its sales in the ready-made food market thanks to the popularity of its dumplings made with jumbo shrimps, the company said Monday.
Highlighting that shrimp has become the most sought-after ingredient for dumplings, replacing minced pork or beef meat, the nation's leading provider of precooked products said it is seeking to solidify its presence in the newly established shrimp dumpling market here.
"As the leading brand in the shrimp dumpling market, we will continue to expand our presence in this sector," a Dongwon F&B official said.
"Amid projections the shrimp dumpling market will grow to 60 billion won by next year, we aim to be the No. 1 brand with more than a 60 percent market share."
In September last year, Dongwon F&B launched its premium ready-made "Gaeseong Jumbo Shrimp Dumplings" for the first time in the industry. The new dumplings have been selling well with cumulative sales reaching 10 billion won in just four months following their release.
"In the past, most frozen dumpling products used meat or kimchi as main ingredients. For this reason, consumers had to settle with dumplings with not-so-different tastes," the Dongwon F&B official said. "But our Gaeseong Jumbo Shrimp Dumplings, which used shrimp for the first time in the market, is changing the paradigm of the ready-made dumpling market here."
The popularity of new dumpling products has resulted in a 15.8 percent increase of Dongwon F&B's frozen dumplings sales in the first half of this year, compared to the same period a year ago, the company said.
Following the favorable response to shrimp dumpling products in the market, other food product vendors including CJ CheilJedang, Shinsegae Food and Haitai Confectionary & Foods also followed suit to roll out their own such products.
To lead popularity of the original, Dongwon F&B has launched two varieties of the shrimp dumplings ― "Gaeseong Jumbo Shrimp Fried Dumplings" and "Gaeseong Jumbo Shrimp Boiled Dumplings" ― on the market.
The company said the fried shrimp dumpling has a new taste made of a combination of shrimp and crisp dumpling skin. The boiled shrimp dumpling is double the size of other dumpling products, filled with shrimp and squid as well as locally-grown vegetables such as chives, carrots, onions and cabbages.
"With the two new shrimp dumplings products launched this season, we will make them the icon of Korean frozen dumplings and expand the market," the company official said.
