Pulmuone Food & Culture established itself as a core subsidiary of the Pulmuone Group after posting annual revenue exceeding 600 billion won for two consecutive years in 2018-2019. However, the company took a direct hit from COVID-19, with annual revenue falling to the 400 billion won range in 2020-2021, only recovering to the 600 billion won level in 2022. The turnaround came when CEO Lee Dong-hoon took office in July 2023. That year, revenue increased 12.5% year-on-year to 680 billion won, and operating profit swung from a 500 million won loss in 2022 to a 11.1 billion won profit in 2023. In his second year, 2024, revenue and operating profit rose to 816.7 billion won and 24 billion won respectively, and last year the company achieved record-high results with revenue of 924.1 billion won and operating profit of 33.7 billion won. This year's goal is to break through 1 trillion won in revenue.
In a recent interview with The Seoul Economic Daily at the company's headquarters in Songpa-dong, Seoul, CEO Lee said, "I believe the performance improvement came from the dedication we showed, including personally attending presentations to potential clients and promising to visit their cafeterias quarterly to check quality."
He explained, "Typically, executives avoid attending contract pitches because they feel the burden and responsibility of potential failures, but I believe the CEO should bear that burden, so I attend personally."
Eating Lunch Three Times a Day to Compare Quality
CEO Lee emphasized that direct communication with clients is essential to gain an edge in the contract catering market dominated by large conglomerates. The top players in the contract catering market are mostly affiliates of large conglomerates, which can easily maintain market share by targeting catering contracts within their own group companies. In contrast, Pulmuone Food & Culture must secure business sites purely through its own competitiveness.
"I even visit cafeterias operated by competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses," Lee said. "I eat first at competitor-operated cafeterias and last at those operated by Pulmuone Food & Culture to compare quality. In this process, I sometimes eat the same menu multiple times and sometimes eat lunch three times a day."
These efforts have paid off, with Pulmuone Food & Culture's contract catering renewal rate exceeding 90%, above the industry average of 85%.
He also emphasized data-driven management utilizing artificial intelligence. Pulmuone Food & Culture has introduced digital-based operating systems such as AI meal demand prediction to improve ingredient management and operational efficiency. This allows more accurate prediction of meal demand at each business site, reducing food waste and cutting costs.
"By operating menus based on data and optimizing inventory management, we are simultaneously improving operational efficiency and service quality on site," he said. "Along with this, we can enhance profitability through cost structure improvement and operational streamlining."
Standing Out in Military Catering with Special Diets for the 1%
Pulmuone Food & Culture has particularly distinguished itself in the military catering outsourcing business. Last year alone, it won new contracts for the Army Training Center officer cafeteria and the 32nd Division Recruit Training Battalion. In 2024, it also secured catering contracts for the 32nd Division Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Education and Training Group, and the 35th and 50th Infantry Division Recruit Training Battalions.
"The military catering market has much stricter operating standards and quality control than general business sites," Lee said. "We are putting great effort into menu diversification and improving meal satisfaction so that soldiers can enjoy more satisfying meals."
A prime example is providing special diets such as allergy-friendly and vegan meals, and operating multiple menu corners so soldiers can choose according to their preferences. "At the Army Student Military School, about 1,500 to 2,000 officer candidates enroll, and about 20 of them requested vegan meals," Lee explained. "Creating special diets for just 1% was not easy from a cost perspective, but we decided to provide them boldly."
He added, "Some say the profitability of military catering is low, but military catering is an important public service area directly linked to soldiers' welfare. I believe there is sufficient mid-to-long-term growth potential if we continue to improve operational efficiency while increasing soldiers' meal satisfaction."
CEO Lee expects that providing high-quality military and school meals will also help secure Pulmuone's "future customers." He noted, "One of Pulmuone's weaknesses is that preference is lower among the teens and twenties compared to the fifties and sixties. This is because younger generations are exposed to stimulating foods at convenience stores, which is far from the 'right food' that Pulmuone pursues."
He continued, "The low preference is simply because Pulmuone's ingredients are unfamiliar to them, and the best way to solve this is to let them experience Pulmuone's ingredients from a young age. Students who have positive experiences with Pulmuone's tofu and bean sprouts through our contract catering will naturally choose Pulmuone's ingredients when they grow older."
