How to Survive in the Online Market for Agricultural and Fresh Foods! Expanding Distribution Through the wadiz Store!?

* "Behind the Funding" is a series on wadiz that features the startup stories of makers taking on meaningful challenges, as well as behind-the-scenes stories about their funding campaigns, pre-orders, and store listings. 

Last week, we announced that you can now purchase. 
We also shared the story of “Freebon International,” a leading maker of this trend 👉 View the post

Today, we’d like to share a more in-depth Story about FreeBon International’s journey, from its early days to the present. 
If you’re thinking about starting a business in agricultural or food distribution, be sure to read this carefully!

Like a long-distance race 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ 
- Challenges Faced in the Early Stages of an Agricultural/Food Distribution Startup and Tips for Overcoming Them

Q. What was it like in the early days of your business? 

I did absolutely everything on my own. Now, I work with a team of three: one professional designer and two administrative staff members.

Q. What was the hardest part in the early days?

It was incredibly difficult just to get the word out about my products. There are so many sellers and products online. 
In the early days, I spent a lot of time worrying about how to get my products noticed among so many competitors.  

Q. I’m curious about how things are going now that you’re in your second year. 
If you’ve overcome those challenges, could you share some tips? 

Compared to my first year, I’ve achieved 100% growth. At first, there were many frustrating days because I didn’t see any short-term results. 
So I decided to change my approach— to focus on the “long game” by consistently offering high-quality products. 
By consistently communicating with customers and offering high-quality products at reasonable prices, I built up a base of regular customers.
Sales naturally followed suit. 

After all, the online world is like a marathon—

I started to think

.

Kim Jong-woon, CEO of Freebon International 

Q. It doesn’t seem easy to supply high-quality products at reasonable prices. 

Absolutely. It’s really difficult to ensure that the farming households making the products earn a fair profit while also offering customers a price advantage over other products. 
I looked for other ways, but in the end, I realized I had no choice but to reduce my own profit margin. 
So, even now, whenever possible, I focus on minimizing my profit margin while increasing sales volume to maximize overall profit. 

Q. Do you have any other tips?

Staying on top of trends is also incredibly important. One common mistake in product development within the manufacturing industry is that 
is that they often fail because they rely solely on the know-how that led to their past successes. 
What those people really need is to understand customer needs.
Predicting customer needs and anticipating the future is really difficult. That’s why my tip is to keep a close eye on trends. 

A development idea that breathed new life into a partner company’s stagnant sales ✨
- Developing a special soft-boiled egg that boosted sales by more than 10 times?  

Source: Provided by maker

Q. In a previous interview, you mentioned creating “new products in collaboration with farmers.”
I hear there are other products besides CEO Yoo Ki-chun’s lettuce wraps? 

The first product we developed was soft-boiled eggs flavored with Himalayan salt, which we’re still actively selling today. 
It’s a product we created by communicating with the CEO of our partner company and combining their manufacturing expertise with my distribution know-how. 

🥚 Click here to learn more about “Energy Eggs”—mild and not salty (Click)

Q. Please tell us the Story behind how it was created! 

The CEO of an egg company called “Gye-rim Farm” asked me if there was any way to boost their stagnant sales. 
Since I also provide management consulting, we started by discussing the manufacturing process, quality control, and other such matters with the farm’s CEO. 

Since microplastics were a hot topic at the time,I proposed using Himalayan pink salt instead of refined salt to reflect current social concerns. 
I went right onto the production line myself to adjust the salt content and other factors, and we made several prototypes. 
When I tasted it, it was much better than existing products, wasn’t it? Plus, it’s less salty than conventional soft-boiled eggs. 

Q. I heard there was a significant change in sales as well. 

The CEO of Gye-rim Farmtold me that sales had increased more than tenfold compared to the beginning. This led to an increase in the number of farms partnering with us. 
Thanks to the CEO, who was satisfied with our consulting services and recommended us to others, it’s become easier for us to meet high-quality farm owners and grow our business. 

Wadiz was the first to take notice of Freebon International 👀    
- We’re now available on the wadiz Store—no funding or pre-orders required! 

Q. Were you familiar with wadiz, CEO? 

It was a platform I’d been following with interest even before starting my business. 
I saw wadiz as a channel that was the first to introduce new products or those not yet available on the domestic market. 
Since I’m particularly interested in creating such products, it was also a platform I used for benchmarking and research. 

Q. How did you end up joining the wadiz Store? 

One day, I received a proposal from a wadiz Store representative. It was an email I received while browsing a portal site, stating that the product selection was incredibly diverse and 
and the quality seemed high. I was really happy when I received that email. 

We operate on a system where we produce and ship orders on the same day whenever possible. We’re establishing processes for direct shipping from the source and direct shipping from the manufacturer. 
I think wadiz also appreciated our focus on freshness. We’ve designed the product detail page to 
to address customers’ questions, and I was proud that they recognized even this level of care.  

Q. What have you liked most since joining the store? 

It seems that many wadiz supporters are a step ahead of trends and place a high priority on product quality. 

So when selling on wadiz, the supporters’ reviews and diverse feedback serve as a benchmark
for our future product development and operational strategies. Being able to identify areas for the brand’s growth based on our supporters’ feedback—that’s what I really appreciate.

FreeBon International wants to contribute to our customers’ happy lives 💜
- Freebon International’s Plan

Q. What are Freebon International’s future plans?

“Freebon International” is a portmanteau of “premium” and “bon.” True to the meaning of our name, we will continue to stay true to our original vision and provide customers with even healthier 
valuable products to our customers. We hope to contribute, even in a small way, to the happiness of everyone who enjoys our products. 

Furthermore, while we’ve focused on promoting the brands of our partner farms so far, moving forward, we plan to select products from among them that I can be proud of and offer them under the “
” “Freebon” brand. In fact, we’ve already filed a trademark application for “Freebon” and are currently working on the design. 
We’re even preparing to launch products —both domestic and international—bearing the ‘Freebon’ mark.  

Today, we shared the story of Kim Jong-woon, CEO of Freebon International, and his journey to success. I hope this has been helpful to many aspiring entrepreneurs and makers! 
Please look forward to hearing the story of another maker next time. 💓

Want to see behind-the-scenes footage of the funding campaign? 👇

Check out Freebon International’s diverse product lineup 👇

https://www.wadiz.kr/web/maker/detail/5314611

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