KGC's ginseng extract draws demand ahead of Lunar New Year

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea Ginseng Corp. (KGC) is seeing rising sales for its health supplement products as consumers become more mindful of nutritional benefits, leading them to choose its products as gifts for the Lunar New Year holiday later this month.

The sales boost comes amid worsening air pollution in the country, caused by rising fine dust levels during the winter. Additionally, the number of flu and cold cases spiked in the past weeks, leading to a rise in demand for healthy food and supplements.

The company’s top-selling product is Everytime, a portable ginseng extract in stick packets. Sales have surged by over 42 percent compared to the previous year, with young millennials and members of Generation Z, in their 20s and 30s, emerging as the largest consumer group.

KGC, with its signature brand JungKwanJang, has launched a campaign promoting its key products as ideal gifts for the holidays, including Da Bo Rok, Korean Red Ginseng Tonic, Cheon Nok and Hwal Gi. The promotional event runs until Jan. 30, with these products available at JungKwanJang’s offline stores nationwide and the brand’s online mall.

The company, citing global market analyst Euromonitor International, said that JungKwanJang has been ranked No. 1 in the global ginseng retail market for the past 10 years.

KGC said ginseng has been certified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its seven key health benefits, including immunity improvement, improving blood flow, boosting antioxidant and blood sugar control. Ginseng also boosts cellular activities to strengthen immunity against virus infections and protects respiratory organs, the company added.

“People have begun paying attention to not only wellness but also the ‘slow-aging’ trend, (where consumers aim to) slow down aging through consistent health management,” a KGC official said.

“Those keywords have been pushing sales for our products for the upcoming holidays. As more people are catching the flu, cold and suffering from severe air pollution, immunity-strengthening nutritional products like our ginseng extracts have been on the rise.”