A view inside Eataly, the dining-focused store on the 10th floor of Hyundai Department Store’s Trade Center branch in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Photo courtesy of Hyundai Green Food
Hyundai Greenfood (453340), the food unit of Hyundai Department Store Group, is creating a sales division and reorganizing its restaurant business to sharpen its competitive edge. The move is seen as an effort to layer brand-specific expertise onto a business built around food service and food distribution, improving store operations and accelerating the development of new brands.
The company carried out the reorganization on the 29th, industry sources said. The new sales division oversees three units: the merchandising division, the distribution and dining division, and the Greating business division, which runs the company’s Greating health-focused meal brand. The restaurant business department, previously under the distribution and dining division, was split into a casual dining department and a fine dining department. The casual dining department will be led by Executive Director Chung Seo-young, promoted in this round of regular personnel changes, and the fine dining department by Executive Director Woo Myung-hak.
The restructuring is read as a step to deepen expertise in each business line as the company’s restaurant brand portfolio widens. Hyundai Greenfood currently operates 111 stores under 33 brands, including food courts, bakeries, cafes and restaurants. Its lineup spans the Italian restaurant Eataly, the wine-focused restaurant Wine Works and the bakery Bezzley, and it is expanding into global restaurant brands and collaboration brands.
In April, the company opened the Jamsil flagship, the first Seoul location of the U.S. steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse. The roughly 506-square-meter flagship introduced new menu items tailored to the local market and extended operating hours by one hour compared with existing stores. In August, the company renovated the Eataly outlet at Hyundai Department Store’s Trade Center branch into a dining-focused location. It introduced 10 signature dishes cooked in a charcoal oven along with a traditional Italian course menu, and expanded its open kitchen and private dining rooms to target demand for upscale dining.
Last month, the company opened its first Gamae Japanese Cuisine outlet, a premium Japanese brand developed jointly with master chef An Yu-seong, at Hyundai Department Store’s Pangyo branch. Built on recipes and know-how from the brand’s existing stores in Gwangju, the menu offers set meals and course options suited to an office district. Two more locations are planned by next year.
Separately, Hyundai Greenfood announced its regular executive appointments the same day, promoting President and Chief Executive Park Hong-jin to vice chairman and chief executive.