Korea Ginseng Corporation

Korea Ginseng Corporation
Hangul 한국인삼공사
Hanja 韓國人蔘公社
Revised Romanization Hanguk Insam Gongsa
McCune–Reischauer Hanguk Tampae Insam Kongsa

KGC (originally Korea Ginseng Corporation, Korea Ginseng Corp. Korean : 한국인삼공사, Hanguk Insam Gongsa) is a ginseng company in South Korea. KGC's sales volume share was 35% of total Korea's herbal/traditional products market in 2011.[1]

KGC produces popular Korean Red Ginseng products such as : Korean Red Giseng Heaven/Earth/Good, Korean Red Ginseng Extract, Korean Red Ginseng Powder, Honeyed Korean Red Ginseng Slices, Korean Red Ginseng Tonic, etc.,. It has been expanded outside Korea, especially in East Asia market like China and Taiwan.

KGC is a subsidiary company of KT&G, and its headquarters are both in Seoul and Daejeon.

History

KGC's brand of Korean Red Ginseng, CKJ, is known as Cheong-Kwan-Jang in Korea and overseas. This brand name goes back to the early 1940s. Because of increased export demand for Korean Red Ginseng at the end of the Japanese colonial period, lots of fake root were prospering. To find a way to distinguish real ginseng, the Monopoly Bureau of the Japanese General Government began using the label "Cheong-Kwan-Jang," which is translated as ?officially government approved."[2]

The sale of KGC was a government monopoly from 1899 to 1996. Since then, KGC has never given up its position at the top of the market, even though the name has changed from the Monopoly Bureau to Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation, and finally KT&G subsidiary Korea Ginseng Corp.

KGC Global

KGC products are now exported to over 40 countries. Also, KGC has its own overseas branches in USA, China, Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia.

References

  1. ↑ "Herbal/Traditional Products in South Korea". euromonitor. Aug 2012.
  2. ↑ Kim, Tae-gyu (11 November 2010). "Whats special about Cheong-Kwan-Jang?". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013.

External links