Baemin Kitchen attracts Vietnam market with 'B-rated' humor marketing

Baedal Minjok, a South Korean food delivery app, said Monday it is making progress in expanding business in Vietnam with its shared kitchen service, helping Korean food franchises tap into the market there.

The food delivery service, operated by Woowa Brothers, said it plans to open second and third Baemin Kitchen branches in Ho Chi Minh in the second half of this year, following the first store that opened in November 2019.

The company presented its food delivery app Baemin in Ho Chi Minh in June 2019, and then opened Baemin Kitchen -- a service providing space for food entrepreneurs to run their food businesses. Baemin also plans to open a Baemin Kitchen branch in Hanoi.

Baemin attributed its smooth start in the overseas market to its marketing based on “B-rated” humor. 

According to the company, it first received market attention after it rolled out a fabric bag with the phrase, “Three-span Bag” printed on it. The phrase, which appears in a traditional Vietnamese fairy tale, refers to a bag that brings treasures.

Early this year, the company also released an envelope for New Year‘s cash gifts, on which phrases such as “Don’t give it to mom,“ and ”Don’t ask if I have a boyfriend,“ are written. The envelopes became a viral sensation, and more than 1,000 of them were sold a day, the company said.

Before launching the first kitchen in Ho Chi Minh, Baemin said it conducted site inspections for six months, together with Jaws Food, a South Korean food company that operates a snack bar franchise specializing in “tteokbokki” -- rice cakes in chili pepper sauce.

With their service, businesses seeking to enter the market for the first time, will be able to reduce upfront costs, including a deposit, rent and marketing.

As for Jaws Food, it is seeing about 150 to 300 daily orders in Ho Chi Minh, since its launch in November 2019, the company said.

Artisee, a South Korean cafe-bakery chain, is also seeing its sales increase in Vietnam, after it entered the market with Baemin Kitchen, according to Baemin.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)