Baek Jong-won leads TBK Sauce demonstrations for US food distributors

The Born Korea said Tuesday that CEO Baek Jong-won held three product showcases and cooking demonstrations for US food distribution companies during a business trip to the United States, presenting the company's TBK Sauce lineup.

The demonstrations were held for JFC International, a food distribution affiliate of Japan's Kikkoman Group, and Wismettac Asian Foods.

JFC is a US-based Asian food distributor with more than a century of distribution history. The company supplies more than 15,000 Japanese and other Asian food products through a nationwide network, serving specialty Asian food retail channels, restaurant operators and major US supermarket chains.

About 50 people attended the demonstration at JFC's headquarters, where Baek personally prepared 12 dishes using nine TBK Sauce varieties — including galbi marinade sauce, seasoned chicken sauce, tteokbokki sauce, kimchi seasoning powder, soy stir-fry sauce, spicy stew sauce, spicy stir-fry sauce, doenjang jjigae sauce and pickled vegetable soy sauce. He explained the characteristics and uses of each sauce and fielded questions from attendees.

After the showcase, Baek met with JFC's key US retail channel managers to discuss the potential for B2C distribution of TBK Sauce. The Born Korea plans to assess the local response before exploring follow-up business opportunities in both B2B supply and B2C retail.

Baek also demonstrated TBK Sauce-based dishes for Wismettac representatives. Wismettac offered suggestions on developing home meal replacement products using TBK Sauce and on local sauce marketing strategies. The Born Korea said it will review possibilities for product development and distribution cooperation based on those discussions.

Meanwhile, Baek visited Canada in August and signed an MOU with Sunray Group, a local hotel and real estate company, to cooperate on restaurant business ventures. The two sides are exploring converting existing stores in the Greater Toronto Area to The Born Korea brands and opening additional locations using facilities owned by Sunray Group.

"We will continue to expand cooperation with local companies in various countries, and faithfully carry out the follow-up steps under existing MOUs to deliver results in the global market," a Born Korea official said.