▲ K Food Story / CEO Jo Min-ho

(PowerKorea) Summer is in full swing. This summer, however, people are experiencing unprecedented heat and, in South Korea, the humidity. Nevertheless, Korean’s demand for chicken-based food is undoubtedly high. For many years, Koreans have enjoyed samgae-tang (ginseng chicken soup), baeksuk (healthy steamed chicken soup) and dak-bokkeum-tang (braised spicy chicken) to keep their body healthy and sound under the scorching summer heat. 

If you are a lover of dak-bokkeum-tang or so-gopchang-jeongol (beef intestine casserole), you might want to try ‘gopdoritang’ introduced by South Korean food franchise K Food Story that manages the dine-out brand Seungdorinae Gopdoritang.

Rising fast as a food to try among young Koreans, the beef intestine casserole and dak-bokkeum-tang combined ‘gopdoritang’ is the only menu at Seungdorinae Gopdoritang. A total of 17 ingredients are in there including beef intestine and tripe, chicken, self-made sauce and deep boiled broth. 

The meat is tenderly chewy and the broth gives a clean finish with its unique flavor. Some might say it is more like a hot-pot rather than a stew and it goes well either with a bowl of rice or an accompaniment to soju, a Korean alcoholic beverage. The broth is made of pollock and beef leg bones and the sauce by 72 hours of low-temperature ripening to create spicy yet delicious taste. The home grown raw chicken is delivered on the day for the day use only and all other ingredients including beef intestine and tripe also are strictly chosen according to the freshness standard of the company.

It is notable that you can find no other menus than ‘gopdoritang’ at the restaurant. This is because K Food Company follows its ‘select and concentration strategy’ to keep the highest quality and taste possible in the similar menus. 

“The reason we run only one menu is because we have knowhow, experience and technique of making it and we are confident and proud of this. Yet we are not complacent but stick to a continuous research and development. Another reason if I can say is that it makes our franchise business simple and easy” says Jo Min-ho, CEO of K Food Company.

K Food Company‘s preparation and cooking process cannot be more convenient thanks to Jo’s years of experience and expertise in the field as much as his endless passion. Jo used his accumulated data and made it into the primary preparation and cooking already done so that dinners can start to eat within 5 minutes of set-up on the table. 

“Diners do not need to wait for the food to be ready for 20 or even 30 minutes and chefs and servers also do not need to struggle over preparation and setting up and checking every now and then. A person with no experience at all can learn how to do it in 5 minutes, says Jo.

Jo established K Food Company in April 2020 and opened directly managed stores in Dongtan, Suwon and Paju. Starting franchise in earnest from December 2020, he pushed the business forward with such zeal and is now managing 20 stores with ambitious partners nationwide with promising sales figures. The operation manual Jo made is so specific that it is sub-divided into back of the house, front of the house, order and receive, customer services and human resource. 

“The manual gives two benefits: the consistency of the taste in all stores and sales increase. Customer services including phone respond are especially important as it directly leads to review and sales decrease. I don’t want my business come and go like a flick of time like many food franchises in South Korea.”

Jo is ambitious to increase the number of stores to 200 in the coming years through supplying ingredients and kitchen utensils at flat cost as well as distribution and interior but the royalty based on the sales. This sales-based royalty is used in advanced countries like the US and the Netherlands. When the time comes, Jo says, he will launch the business overseas starting from Incheon International Airport to LA and Hanoi. 

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