A view of food products released by Ottogi. (Photo: Ottogi)

Ottogi made its first step in the Korean food market many years ago by releasing a powered instant curry product in Korea. Ottogi released the nation’s firsts in areas such as soup, ketchup and mayonnaise.

The food maker says it has been committed to introducing foreign foods, seeming unfamiliar to Koreans at that time, into the domestic market.

Ottogi employees conducted the nation’s first-ever “route sale” tactics, in which they toured outlets and made face-to-face contact with consumers, leading to that tactic now dominating the domestic market.

It was Ottogi that introduced the nation’s first tasting event for sales, hiring female sales employees for the first time.

These “firsts” in Korea are remembered as watershed events in Korean food marketing history. Thanks to these efforts, Ottogi has gone from strength to strength.

The food maker topped 10 billion won in sales in 1979, 100 billion won in sales in 1988 and 1 trillion won in sales in 2007. It was in 2017 that Ottogi chalked up more than 2 trillion won in sales.

“Tree-minute Cooking” food items, which made their debut as the nation’s first home meal replacements (HMRs) in 1981, became a top popular household brand. Ottogi has been implementing a project to finance the operation of children born with congenital heart defects for since 1992.

The number of beneficiaries who have gotten a new life through the support of the food maker stood at 5,231 as of the end of February.

True to its management tenet “Contributing to food life of humanity,” Ottogi has been putting into practice corporate social responsibilities on a continuous and diverse basis.

In this regard, “Goodwill Store Disabled Rehabilitation Support Project,” designed to provide jobs to the handicapped for their self-sufficiency, Ottogi Volunteers’ activities and the academic promotion and scholarship program of the Ottogi Ham Taiho Foundation are among the food maker’s representative CSR activities in place.

Ottogi is promoting shared growth with Korean farmers by purchasing raw materials worth an annual average of 100 billion won Korea agricultural produce and livestock while supporting diverse events, hosted by local autonomous bodies, like the Hwacheon Tomato Festival.

It is noteworthy that Ottogi has continued to implement social contribution activities targeting places and people who are badly in need, not transient and hollow activities for show.

In accordance with the company’s management catchphrase “Higher Nutrients, More Excellent Foods, Better Quality to Contribute to Promotion of Human Dietary Life,” Ottogi pledges to get back to the basics: quality is key for the company’s products.

Ottogi is conducting diverse activities to ensure the safety of foods and is attaching priority to food safety and quality. The food maker’s foremost priority on food safety remains unchanged.

In order to ensure the safety of foods, Ottogi has made strenuous efforts in unseen sectors.

The company has been committed to ensuring safety by improving sites, promoting hygiene, health management and securing the safety of major ingredients and raw materials.

Ottogi has been devoting itself to ensuring the systematic and hygienic management of most of the company’s items, including curry, mayonnaise, ketchup, “retrot” food, instant cooked rice, ramyeon, and noodle products in compliance with HACCP requirements.

HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.

Ottogi, which celebrated the 50th anniversary last year, announced a new vision “Ottogi Walking Together with the World with Healthy Culinary Life.” The new vision calls for Ottogi to make Korea’s healthy dietary life culture known to the world so as to contribute to improving human dietary life.

The move may be interpreted as the company’s aggressive management bid to target the global market, beyond its standing as a leading integrated food maker in Korea.

The growth of Ottogi has been synonymous with the process of Korea’s economic development and modernization. Ottogi, a food maker with a 50-year-old history of dedication to contribution to state development, goes for globalization of healthy Korean dietary life culture in earnest.