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Tag: Orion

  • Korean food companies move into direct retail

    Korean food companies move into direct retail

    Korean food companies are reaching out to consumers through face-to-face encounters at their own branded cafes and restaurants.

    And they are reaping the rewards: upgrading their company image, testing new products and increasing sales.

    Binggrae gave its Banana-flavored milk, a product that has survived for 40 years, a new twist in March by opening a cafe in downtown Seoul that sells beverages and ice cream based on the milk. Opened in collaboration with Hyundai Department Store that hosts the cafe at its downtown outlet, Yellow Cafe is making monthly sales of some 100 million won (US$85,178), company officials said.

    yellow-cafe

    Binggrae also worked with Olive Young, a health and beauty store chain, to sell body care products based on its milk brands. Last month, it opened a soft ice cream shop at a Lotte Department Store branch in southern Seoul.

    Company insiders say the moves are market tests for Binggrae, which is interested in starting a restaurant business.

    Orion, synonymous with its most popular snack Choco Pie, is operating a dessert cafe, Lab O, in southern Seoul. As its name suggests, the store serves as the company’s research center for dessert products, getting consumer reactions to different flavors and foods tweaked from its mainstream brands.

    Haitai Confectionery & Foods, which recently landed a smash hit with its honey-flavored potato chips, Honey Butter Chips, runs cafe Haitai Ro at two locations in Seoul. The stores sell desserts, as well as character figurines and stuffed animals that enjoy the company’s snacks. Officials at the firm say the cafes are more like “antennae shops” that catch consumers’ preferences.

    Lotte Confectionery has Guylian Cafe at the Lotte Department Store’s Lotte World branch that sells desserts made with the Belgian chocolate. Lotte took over the brand in 2008. Lotte separately operates exhibition booths for its own products in southern Seoul.

    Food companies likewise are working their way directly to consumers through restaurant-style shops.

    SPC Samlip has adopted “grocerant” as its concept store, mixing a grocery store with a restaurant. Its Glucks Schwein, which sells premium processed meats, has German sausages and beer on its menu. The company’s noodle line Hi-myon, launched in 1974, is being marketed at its noodle specialty restaurant Hi-myon Udon. Company officials say they are planning to open 20 Glucks Schwein franchises by 2018 on top of 10 noodle restaurants by the end of next year.

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  • A Leading Malaysian FMCG Distributor Chooses ORION ERP Suite from 3i Infotech

    A Leading Malaysian FMCG Distributor Chooses ORION ERP Suite from 3i Infotech

    Malaysian based Teik Senn (M) Sdn Bhd (TSM), a leading FMCG distributor, recently upgraded to ORION ERP Suite from 3i Infotech. The company was seeking a technology upgrade to support its business consolidation, and wanted a Cloud enabled application with real-time reports for better decision-making.

    With their distribution network spread across Malaysia and Thailand, the company required better visibility among the end users. ORION offered real-time management dashboards, such as Report Designer and Enterprise Content Search to enable TSM to stay updated as well as track the status of various departments & its processes.

    They reported several key benefits after the upgrade. Our client, Ms Chong Sok Chee said, “TSM wanted to move from a Client server setup to a Cloud enabled application. We also wanted a reporting system that enabled an end-user personalisation and customisation of views, along with real-time data for better decision-making. ORION from 3i infotech gave us an overview of the entire business through KPI management as well as a 360-degree view of products, customers and suppliers, thus providing us with user defined scheduled reports with active report designers.”

    As ORION was able to meet all of TSM’s requirements, Suryanarayan Kasichainula, EVP and Business Head (ERP) from 3i Infotech said, “The upgrade empowered TSM’s end users with real-time data to ensure better decision-making. Through this deal, which is the first for Warehouse Management, ORION is expanding its product portfolio further in the logistics space.”

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  • Orion is out in bidding for Tesco’s Korea operations

    Orion is out in bidding for Tesco’s Korea operations

    Private-equity firms such as MBK Partners and the Carlyle Group are among the short-listed bidders for Homeplus, a local discount retailer owned by the U.K. grocery chain Tesco, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

    Affinity Equity Partners and Goldman Sachs’ private equity arm have also been short-listed, while the local snack maker Orion, which had submitted a bid, failed to move to the next round after a bid at the lower end of the bidders’ range. Orion’s bid was said to have been between 4 and 5 trillion won ($3.6 billion to $4.4 billion).

    Orion shares jumped 5.7 percent on Thursday after the news of its withdrawal. “Homeplus was probably too big of a prize for Orion to handle. Its failure has been expected,” a brokerage analyst said.

    Hyundai Department Store, which had earlier shown interest in bidding, decided not to, the retail company said. The chain is currently focused on getting a license for a duty-free business in Seoul.

    The Homeplus sale is expected to fetch around $6 billion for the troubled U.K. grocery chain Tesco, which is dealing globally with massive losses and huge outstanding debts. The sale of its Korean operations is part of its efforts to secure cash as it tries to stay afloat.

    Tesco entered the Korean retail market jointly with Samsung C&T in 1999, initially controlling 81 percent stake in Homeplus but gradually buying out Samsung’s stake.

    Homeplus operates 107 hypermarkets and 828 express stores across Korea, and is the third-largest discount retailer, after E-Mart and Lotte Mart, according to regulatory filings.

    Korea’s discount retailing market is estimated to be worth 34.9 trillion won as of the third quarter of 2014, down from 45.1 trillion won a year earlier. The sector has been hurt by an economic slump and government regulations that restrict operations during weekends to protect mom-and-pop stores.

    Homeplus saw a net loss of 299 billion won last year. Homeplus Tesco reported a net loss of 48.8 billion won and Homeplus Bakery contributed a net loss of 6.7 billion won.

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  • Tesco Korea technique paying off

    Tesco Korea technique paying off

    Tesco’s obvious technique to attract out bidders for its Korean Homeplus operation is already paying off.

    Whereas personal fairness gamers have been apparently despatched invites to bid, the best way the information of the as but formally unconfirmed sale plan has unfold, has drawn two public declarations of curiosity.

    One is decidedly mischievous – from snack maker Orion, well-known for its “Choco Pie” dessert bought in supermarkets throughout Asia. Simply the place it might discover £6 billion to purchase Tesco Korea is unclear.

    The opposite is from Korea’s Hyundai Division Retailer (no relation to the automotive firm). Hyundai is value about US$three billion, so the probability of it pulling off a reverse takeover in its personal proper is slim. However it might make a worthy companion for a personal fairness investor, comparable to KKR, Carlyle, Affinity Fairness Companions, CVC or MBK, all of whom have been formally invited to bid. Native information, overseas capital and the looks of native possession to a finicky native shopper base would show a strong basis for progress and capital achieve.

    The top results of these two declarations creates the looks that there’s robust curiosity and demand within the Tesco Korea operation which, whereas worthwhile, faces challenges in sustaining market share.

    At the very least one of many events says it has acquired an info memorandum which tends to place past doubt Tesco Plc’s intentions.

    Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has already confirmed at Unilever he was unafraid of robust selections. And he’s dealing with many in his new position – his largest but to place Tesco Korea on the block.

    With a worth of circa £6 billion, it brings an entire new definition to the time period ‘hearth sale’. But when consumers are in search of a reduction given Tesco’s UK operational woes, they’ll be disenchanted.

    The method has been managed by HSBC and an obvious collection of leaks to information media, which, to date, are working properly, presents a protected and risk-free technique of testing the water. If the bids are available and the provides appear affordable, Tesco has a excellent news story of a robust return, a big discount in its debt and a stronger monetary base with which to proceed its residence market reforms and strengthen market share and income. If nobody significantly bites, Tesco can break its silence, deny a sale was ever on – and blame the media and market hypothesis for a misunderstanding.

    Our prediction: Tesco will promote the Korean operation and it’ll get a great worth for it, as a result of one or two or extra of these personal fairness gamers, working with a Korean associate with information of the retail business, will be capable of extract worth out of the enterprise that has hitherto eluded Londoners pulling strings from afar.

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