South Korean bakery giant SPC Group's flagship bakery chain Paris Baguette will make its first inroad into the Middle Eastern and African market as a part of its efforts to tap into the global halal food market worth some $2 trillion in value, said SPC Group, Monday. SPC Group said it signed a memorandum of understanding with a United Arab Emirates-based conglomerate Galadari Brothers Group on Sunday to establish a joint venture by 2024. Galadari Brothers Group currently operates businesses

Incorporating sustainability into corporate strategies doesn’t just help the planet, it also helps a company in practical ways — such as attracting more funds and motivating employees, Royal Philips’ head of sustainability told The Korea Herald in a recent interview. “Companies that create and offer sustainable solutions gain more advantages,” Robert Metzke, who oversees the Netherlands-based global health care giant’s strategies for sustainable development,

South Korean air carrier Asiana Airlines will reportedly convene a meeting of its board of directors on Oct. 30 to decide whether or not to sell its cargo business, as a part of its efforts to accelerate its merger with its bigger rival Korean Air, industry sources said Friday. In order for the sale of the company’s cargo unit to be approved, four out of six of Asiana’s directors must agree. "Nothing has been concretely confirmed in regards to the board of directors' meetin

South Korean trading company STX said Friday it had decided to initiate a paid-in capital increase of 80 billion won ($58 million), in a bid to finance funds for expanding its global secondary battery businesses and Trollygo, the company's new business-to-business trading platform to be launched next month. According to STX, the firm held a board of directors meeting at the STX headquarters in Jung-gu, central Seoul, to decide new issuance of a total of 7.36 million common shares. The price

Starbucks’ recent decision to allow customers to purchase items cheaper than the value of their coupons and get a refund on the price difference is being greeted with enthusiasm by Korean consumers. The new coupon system, which is expected to take effect starting as early as December, has been a longstanding wish among consumers here -- until now, they were often required to spend extra money if they wanted to use mobile gift certificates and coupons at the nation's most popular coffe

South Korean construction management firm Hanmi Global said Thursday the company will hold the 2023 Datacenter Innovation Forum at Coex, southern Seoul, on Nov. 6. Via presentations from global companies such as program management service provider Turner & Townsend, British design engineering company Bryden Wood and architectural design company Arup, the forum will review the latest global trends in the efficient construction of data centers. "Following the emergence of digitalization a

Posco International said Wednesday it completed a production facility for traction motor cores, or parts responsible for converting electric energy into kinetic energy in electric vehicles, in Mexico, in a bid to accelerate its foray into the North American market. Posco International said it held a ceremony in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, to commemorate the completion of Posco International Mexico E-Mobility, or PI-MEM. According to Posco International, the completed facility stands on 63,925 square m

SK Chemicals said Tuesday it has partnered with global cosmetics giant The Estee Lauder Companies, in a bid to provide eco-friendly plastic solutions and accelerate its efforts to popularize cosmetics containers that incorporate recycled materials. SK Chemicals said it signed a letter of intent with Estee Lauder to provide Ecotria CR and Skypet CR to the cosmetics firm. Both materials feature advanced recycling technology that allows the chemical decomposition of plastic into monomers. SK Chemic

South Korean liquor giant HiteJinro said Monday it is building the company's first overseas manufacturing plant in Vietnam, riding high on the growing popularity of the nation's distilled spirit abroad. According to HiteJinro Singapore, the company confirmed a sublease agreement with the Green I-Park Industrial Complex in Vietnam's Thai Binh province to establish HiteJinro’s new soju manufacturing plant at the site. HiteJinro Singapore is HiteJinro’s affiliate newly es

The cost of daily necessities in South Korea has surged over the past 50 years amid the nation's rapid economic growth and soaring inflation, revealed data released Monday. According to data compiled buy the Korea Price Research Center, a 1 kilogram cut of Korean beef that would have cost 1,366 won in 1974 now costs 145,900 won ($108), while the price of pork rose from 700 won per kilogram to 31,800 won during the same period. Beef and pork experienced the steepest price hikes of 100-fold a

The sale of South Korea's No. 1 container shipper HMM, which is anticipated to be one of Korea's largest mergers and acquisitions for the second half of 2023, could hit a snag amid a slowdown in the shipping industry, according to industry sources on Sunday. In November, state-owned Korea Development Bank, the largest shareholder of HMM, is reportedly scheduled to select its preferred bidder for the acquisition. Earlier this month, acquisition candidates for HMM were narrowed down to a

South Korean consumers' daily self-grooming routines make Korea an attractive market for Dyson, a hair care engineer from the UK consumer electronics giant told The Korea Herald during an interview held in Seoul, Thursday. "We conduct a lot of user trials and make sure we have Korea, one of our key markets, for those trials -- so that whenever we develop (technical specifications) they are tailored to what was successful during trials held in Korea," said Will Kerr, the director o

P&G Korea, the South Korean unit of the global consumer goods maker Proctor & Gamble, said Thursday that its Pampers diaper brand recently launched its latest premium diaper product, in a bid to prevent skin dryness for babies during in-between seasons. Named the "Pampers Touch of Nature Pants," the diaper, launched on Oct. 2, features a premium cotton-layered outer cover to prevent skin irritation. The diaper is also equipped with an absorption layer, which incorporates Pamper

Sasha Sagan, renowned author and daughter of the late American astronomer and cosmologist Carl Sagan, delivered the keynote speech for The 2023 Korea Herald Humanity In Tech on Wednesday, highlighting the need to tolerate ambiguity in rapidly changing times. "Thank you so much to everyone at the Korea Herald for inviting me here today. I have always wanted to visit Seoul and I am truly delighted to be here," said Sagan during the forum, held at The Shilla Seoul. Sagan pointed out durin

Price increase rates of about 80 percent of restaurant menus exceeded the price increase rate of a market basket of consumer goods in September, according to data on Monday. According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index, which functions as an economic metric for the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods, showed an on-year growth of 3.7 percent in September. Meanwhile, the increase rate in the sector for dining out, a key indicator of inflation in the food sector f

Posco is facing a possible labor strike for the first time in its 55-year history as it failed to bargain with its labor union for the second time since wage negotiations began in August. Wage talks between Posco's management and the union fell through late Thursday afternoon as the two sides failed to narrow their differences, according to the company. As a result, Posco's labor union said it will apply for a mediation process led by the National Labor Relations Commission, and hold

Concerns are growing that soaring raw material costs could have a knock-on effect on the prices of daily necessities, following price hikes initiated by some of the largest liquor and dairy firms in South Korea. Korean brewery giant Oriental Brewery announced that starting Wednesday, it will raise the factory price of its beer products such as Cass and Hanmac, by an average of 6.9 percent. "The price adjustments came as the costs of raw materials for (alcoholic beverages), which rely largel

Incorporation of the price adjustment clause, or PAC, in consignment production contracts made between suppliers and subcontractors were mandated starting Wednesday for the first time in South Korea. The PAC, which requires suppliers to adjust the price of materials they provide to subcontractors in accordance with variations in raw material costs, aims to alleviate subcontractors' losses under the current fixed-price contract system. Under the current system, small and medium-sized consign

The high-profile merger between South Korea’s top two air carriers is likely to meet a watershed moment later this month as Korean Air is reportedly scheduled to submit an aggressively revised version of its acquisition proposal for Asiana Airlines to the European Commission to effectively ease the regulator’s antitrust concerns. According to local reports Tuesday, Korean Air’s revised proposal will include the company's sale of the entirety of Asiana Airlines' cargo

South Korean retail giant and the nation's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group is reportedly resorting to liquidating billions of won in assets as it grapples with flagging performance posted across its major subsidiaries. According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure board, Lotte Holdings reported 211.7 billion won ($157 million) in operating profits in the January-June period this year, down 19 percent from the same period last year (261.2 billion won). Lo