A leader in soy sauce for over six decades

Sempio soy sauce

More than 60 years ago, an entrepreneur named Park Gyu-hwe took over a Japanese-run soybean manufacturing company with the idea of making a big dent in the market for soy sauce.

Park began operating the company in 1946 in Chungmuro, Seoul, and nearly a decade later changed its name to Sempio Foods Company, incorporating a word that essentially means “to rise like spring water.”

And rise the company did.

Sales of Sempio soy sauce initially skyrocketed. However, when locals started clamoring for imported, naturally brewed Japanese soy sauce in the late 1980s, the company decided to pursue its own premium line to stay competitive under the guidance of then-CEO Park Seung-bok.

During the fermentation process of naturally brewed soy sauce, the amount of protein increases, giving it what many people say is a better flavor. In order to achieve the best taste, the right amount of premium soybeans had to be mixed with whole wheat, and the original fermentation period had to be increased to six months.

The company struggled to develop the right taste, and the development period began to stretch on for longer than expected.

The breakthrough came when Sempio found fresh underground water in Icheon, Gyeonggi, giving the company the right taste.

In 1989, after a year of development, the company was ready to release the new product to the market.

The level of protein it contained was higher than the 1 percent average of regular versions and surpassed even other premium products, hitting 1.5 percent.

Sempio developed a marketing campaign around the product, naming it 501S.

The company’s 501S soy sauce is now the leader with a 10 percent share of the market and more than 20 billion won in annual sales.

The total amount of soy sauce it has sold adds up to 147,455 kiloliters.

By Choi Ji-young [seungjung@joongang.co.kr]