P&G rolled out Downy Spring Garden on Monday, a new product of its fabric softener Downy Botanis Perfume collection. Downy Spring Garden boasts the delicate scent of spring, allowing customers to enjoy a spring garden from inside their homes, the company said. The product boasts a relatively gentle fragrance and is highly concentrated so users can put in a third of the normal amount for the same effect as its other fabric softeners, the company said. “Downy Botanis Perfume Colle

Starbucks Korea said Monday that it will limit seating at its outlets across the country, joining a nationwide social distancing campaign amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. The coffee chain said tables and chairs will be placed between one and 1 1/2 meters apart to keep customers at a distance from one another. Starbucks has already adopted such a system at some of its outlets in Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province, the epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreak here. "Socia

As of Friday, South Korean consumers can freely order alcoholic drinks online and pay via internet or with a mobile app. With a ban on online purchases of liquor lifted, convenience stores and hypermarket chains stand to benefit, according to the industry. Changes to the Liquor Tax Act came into effect Friday allowing retailers, including restaurants, hypermarkets and convenience stores, to sell alcoholic beverages on mobile apps and on the internet. But delivery is still banned, so custome

Amorepacific’s male cosmetics brand BeREADY said Thursday it has launched a new eye shadow palette for men. BeREADY, which was introduced last year, said it rolled out the Mood Up Shadow Eye Palette, the first eye palette product in the market to be developed for men. The brand said the range of cosmetics used by men are expanding from skin base creams to color items. The four colors of the eye palette are chosen based on how well they blend and can also be used for facial contouring,

Unlikely popularity of costumed penguin character proves profitable

Pulmuone, a fresh food company, said Thursday it has launched two portion packs of Pulmuone Sliced Kimchi for small households, reflecting the increasing number of single and two-person households. The pack comes in two sizes -- 400 and 600 grams. While kimchi products are usually composed of 3 to 10 kilogram packs, Pulmuone said its small portion kimchi will fit the needs of small households. According to Statistics Korea, single and two-person households accounted for 57 percent of the pop

With social distancing becoming daily routine for people here in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, fancy restaurants are turning to drive-thru services, according to industry sources Tuesday. Samwon Garden, a decades-old local Korean food restaurant established in 1976, said it started a “driving pickup” service from Friday, in which customers can pick up meals ordered in advance from their cars. The restaurant offers discounts for all customers, selling short ribs menu items at

Ediya Coffee Chairman Moon Chang-ki (far right) turns on a roasting machine at Ediya Dream Factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. The factory that spans 12,982 square meters, with 40 billion won investment, is equipped with new coffee roasting technologies.  Ediya, which has 3,000 franchisees nationwide, said with the opening of the roasting factory and a logistics facility, it has automated all four processes of selecting, roasting and packaging coffee products. (herim@he

Korean food and beverage giant Binggrae said Wednesday it has acquired Haitai Icecream, a subsidiary of Haitai Confectionery & Food, for 140 billion won ($115 million). The exact date of the acquisition will be fixed after details are sorted out. Haitai Confectionery & Food began its ice cream business in 1970 by rolling out Bravo Cone. In January, it was spun off as a separate entity. Following the acquisition, Binggrae is likely to become No. 1 in the confectionery industry, with

South Korea’s leading e-commerece platform Coupang announced Tuesday that it has decided to spin off its fintech business currently operating its payment service. It has established a fintech subsidiary named Coupang Pay on Wednesday, and will start offering payment services within the first half of this year. The move is aimed to offer the services to a broader base of customers with renewed focus on enhancing user experience, the company said. The spinoff is led by Kyung In-tae, Cou

Woowa Brothers, operator of the country’s leading food delivery app Baedal Minjok, said Monday it will file police complaints against businesses that posted fake food reviews on its app, after being paid. According to the company, the firms received about 5,000 won ($4) to 10,000 won for posting positive reviews registered on Baedal Minjok. For instance, they would be paid about 23,000 won to order one fried chicken that cost 18,000 won on the app, write a positive review, and gain 5,000

Retail sales in South Korea rose 9.1 percent in February from a year earlier as more people purchased daily necessities through online platforms amid the spread of the new coronavirus here, data showed Monday. The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 10.6 trillion won ($8.68 billion) last month, compared with 9.71 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The sharp increase came as online stores enjoyed

SPC Samlip, a bakery and restaurant franchise giant, said Friday it has appointed Hwang Jong-hyeon as its new chief executive. SPC Group, the holding company, said it has also appointed Ahn Ji-yong as the new CEO to lead its subsidiary SPC GFS. Hwang served as the CEO of Samjin Eomuk, a fish cake maker, and previously worked for Dongwon F&B, the food division for Dongwon Group, for 30 years to lead numerous mergers and acquisitions and contributed to the growth of Dongwon’s dairy

Lotte Shopping said Friday it plans to undergo major restructuring, including shutting down money-losing stores and sluggish businesses, while taking measures to strengthen its e-commerce platform. Lotte Shopping operates the retail unit of Lotte Group, including the department store and mart. During its general shareholders meeting held in Seoul, Lotte Shopping CEO Kang Hee-tae announced improving profitability as the company’s utmost priority this year. “While we expect a dif

Baemin Order, an ordering and payment service for restaurants, accumulated over 2 million orders in five months since its launch in November, its operator Baedal Minjok said Friday. Baemin Order, which can be accessed through the Baedal Minjok delivery app, is a service in which users can order and pay for food in advance of a visit to a restaurant. This service allows users to either pick up the food or dine in at the restaurant without making contact with a server, Baedal Minjok explained.