Benson ice cream joins Aworhome, targets 100 stores by next year

Ice cream brand Benson is joining food service company Aworhome and entering the franchise business, with plans to leverage a nationwide logistics network and cold-chain infrastructure for a major store expansion.

Better Scoop Creamery, the operator of Benson, said Monday it has completed franchise registration with the Korea Fair Trade Commission. The company plans to begin recruiting franchisees in the first half of next year, focusing on key commercial districts in Seoul and the greater metropolitan area.

Benson is a premium ice cream brand that launched in May last year. Kim Dong-sun, the third son of Hanwha Group's founding family and president of future strategy at Hanwha Machinery & Service Holdings (Hanwha M&S), was directly involved in every stage of the brand's development — from naming and product development to factory planning.

The brand opened its first store at Apgujeong Rodeo in Seoul in May last year and has since expanded to 27 locations across major commercial districts. It has opened 19 new stores this year alone, aggressively scaling up around the one-year anniversary of its launch.

Better Scoop Creamery is recruiting franchise operators with a goal of opening 100 stores in total by next year — 50 company-owned and 50 franchised. The company will prioritize expansion in Seoul and the greater metropolitan area, with plans to move into regional markets from 2028.

Better Scoop Creamery signed a business transfer agreement on Thursday and will be formally incorporated as a division of Aworhome next month. The provisional transfer price is 36 billion won ($27.2 million), covering related assets, liabilities, contracts and licenses. The move marks a collaboration between affiliates within Hanwha Group's lifestyle division following the launch of holding company Hanwha M&S.

Benson plans to use Aworhome's infrastructure for its nationwide expansion. The company intends to build a dedicated frozen delivery system suited to ice cream's strict temperature requirements, ensuring stable supply to franchisees across the country.

The brand is also looking to expand its sales channels. It is reviewing plans to extend its reach into concession outlets operated by Aworhome — including airports, large shopping complexes and highway rest stops — as well as institutional catering and food ingredient distribution channels. It also plans to offer food and beverage services at premium apartment community facilities in partnership with Gome de Galleria.

According to Better Scoop Creamery, the eight roadside stores that opened since June — including locations at Banpo, Mokdong, Seohyeon and Seoul National University Station — each averaged close to 100 million won in sales in their first month of operation, about 26 percent higher than the average for the eight stores that opened last year over the same period. The 16 stores opened this year overall (excluding those open for less than a month) also posted first-month average sales about 13 percent higher than stores that opened last year.

"Entering the franchise business and joining Aworhome is a strategic bet on Benson's quantum leap — a declaration of a new era," a Better Scoop Creamery official said. "We will build Benson's golden age together with our franchisees."