2023.10.16
When the keyword for the October issue of IBT was set as 'technology', there was concern that it might convey a message like 'technology supremacy'. Also, since it is a keyword with a broad meaning, I thought that everyone's standards and expectations would be different, so I thought about it a lot. That's why I prepared it. In this October issue interview, we met with Kim Min-su, CEO of KOF, who is growing with innovative technology but also has a vivid philosophy on the meaning and limitations of technology, and talked about technology and values that were just as important.
<Editor's Note>
The last 20 years of risking one's life in shrimp farming
There is one thing I always ask entrepreneurs when I meet them. It is the reason for their startup. There is nothing more intuitive and clear than this question to deeply understand impact business. Before the interview, I briefly glanced at CEO Kim Min-su’s resume, which included ‘major in aquatic life sciences’ and ‘member of the Fisheries Resources/Marine Resources Research Institute,’ so I guessed that he discovered some social issues during his undergraduate years, gained related experience, and then started a business. However, CEO Kim Min-su’s answer was completely different. All of his resumes were decided after he had a clear sense of purpose: ‘I will become a shrimp farming expert and start a business.’
There was a fateful incident that first made him decide to farm shrimp. Among the acquaintances I met when I was young, there was someone who imported and distributed shrimp from overseas. While talking with him about various things, he discovered the overall status and problems of the shrimp market, as well as the value and vision of aquaculture from the perspective of a future industry. From then on, he decided to become an aquaculture expert, and a shrimp aquaculture expert in particular. He said, “After that, I majored in aquatic life medicine and worked at the Fisheries Resources Research Institute and the Marine Resources Research Institute, where I was able to study the marine environment, growth and diseases of aquatic organisms, and took the first step toward starting a shrimp aquaculture business, which I had long dreamed of.”
KOF is a company that develops smart shrimp farming solutions based on land to solve food problems from a macro perspective and to resolve marine pollution caused by the aquaculture industry. Furthermore, it has a mission to solve the instability of marine resources through smart aqua farm solutions that produce protein-rich shrimp and distribute them fresh. When I heard his answer that he recognized the problems of ‘marine pollution’ and ‘depletion of marine resources’, which anyone can easily relate to now, about 20 years ago and has been equipped with related knowledge and technology, I was able to immediately understand his inner strength and tenacity.
‘Technology’ that supports the direction we believe is right
KOF’s business competitiveness is diverse, but the most notable one is definitely ‘land-based aquaculture.’ Considering that approximately 85% of domestic aquaculture farms are located along the coast, this is a solution with a clear differentiation. Regarding this, CEO Kim Min-su said, “Aquaculture along the coast causes two problems. One is that it can be exposed to various diseases and marine pollution problems brought in through seawater, and the other is that if polluted water from aquaculture flows into the sea, marine pollution can worsen.” Nevertheless, it is still considered natural to build aquaculture farms near the coast because it is easy and quick to adjust the shrimp growth environment by utilizing seawater.
Since his 20s when he was concerned about the sustainability of aquatic resources, CEO Kim Min-su realized that land-based aquaculture was sustainable and worked to develop related technologies. As a result, CEO Kim Min-su has been able to develop a technology that allows shrimp to grow in an environment that is similar to, and even safer than, coastal areas by implementing water quality that is as similar as possible to the ocean environment and devising a system for shrimp to grow well over the past 20 years. In addition, he is effectively solving the problem of polluted water by introducing technologies for water quality management and disease prevention, as well as an eco-friendly, cutting-edge recirculating filtration aquaculture system. In addition, land-based aquaculture has the value of being able to provide the freshest shrimp with the least distribution channels because it can be done close to consumers.
“The important thing is not simply to produce well, but also to organically consider the connection between production and distribution, consumers and distributors. This will be KOF’s differentiating factor. The first key need of consumers and distributors is fresh shrimp. However, most shrimp farmers think that they only need to do well in farming, and leave all the steps after production to distributors. When I was planning the shrimp farming business, I thought that if we could shorten the distribution route by including the process until it reaches the consumer’s table in the organic value chain, this would also be competitive. I will explain more later, but the fact that KOF farms on land instead of along the coast and that this became the core standard for KOF Smart Aqua Farm is based on the idea that we need to consider the value chain to distribute the freshest shrimp closer to consumers. Of course, KOF’s unique technology has been a great support in pursuing this direction.”
Representative Kim Min-su standing in the formwork © Provided by KOF
Still, there was something more important than technology.
He also said that when he first started his business and was developing solutions, he naturally thought that the technical part was the most important. However, as the business gradually expanded, he added that he began to think that technology was just a supplementary material. When asked why, CEO Kim Min-su said, “If KOF had simply been a company with the technology to raise shrimp well, I think its growth would have been limited.” He continued, “This idea is based on my experience focusing only on technology development and shrimp production before founding KOF. Technology is a means of finding a balance based on what the market and consumers want. That is why, no matter how cutting-edge the technology is, if you don’t understand how it will be used in the market and what approach consumers want, it is not sustainable. That is why I felt it deeply through my two foundings.”
“For example, in the case of smart aqua farms, the current Aqua Farm 3.0 developed by KOF has the effect of reducing daily working hours by 75% compared to the same productivity with its own hardware system. This is the effect of reducing production costs through technological advancement. However, you can also think about it this way. If you build a fish farm of the same size, and it costs 3 billion won to build hardware that only requires 2 hours of work, while it costs 300 million won to build hardware that requires 6 hours of work, you can consider the current company’s situation and BEP and make a different judgment about which technology to introduce right away. Rather than unconditionally automating, an aqua farm that mixes manual and automatic operations can be a more sustainable and profitable solution. This is just a simplified example, but I don’t think that developing the ultimate technology separately from cost is the goal. When I think that we should continuously consider the optimal balance between business improvement and profit generation and move forward, I think that technology should play a role as an auxiliary in business.”
This balanced perspective has given KOF a unique competitive edge over its competitors: an organic value chain that can handle the entire aquaculture cycle.
“Smart Aqua Farm is comprised of a wide variety of sectors. Each stage of aquaculture, such as sensing, data management, monitoring, control, engineering, water purification, and disease prevention, is developing its own technology. As a result, there are companies in the aquaculture industry that are presenting or developing specialized solutions for each stage, but KOF’s biggest difference is that it organically structures all of these processes so that they can function as one circle or a large gear. In other words, while there were companies that were good at making hardware, companies that were good at making software, and companies that were good at aquaculture, KOF organically combines core technologies such as hardware/software/AI to meet the conditions for shrimp to grow well, and transforms them into technologies that can be farmed on land while considering environmental and distribution aspects. That’s what makes it different.”
We asked if there was anything he would like to say to entrepreneurs who are hoping to develop technology for growth but are still struggling because they don’t know what direction to take. CEO Kim Min-su said, “It may take 20 years to develop the optimal technology for the purpose, but if there is a market and consumers, I want to tell you that you can start anything right now.” He added, “Technology is a very important tool, but I think it is just one element that makes up the whole, and does not represent the whole, so I hope you don’t place too much meaning on technology itself.” It was heartfelt advice from CEO Kim Min-su, who also had the experience of being overly focused on technology development in the early days of his business and not being able to look at the business as a whole.
How technology goes with strangers
Kim Min-su, CEO, is currently focusing on his role as a manager rather than as a technician. He believes that the more important role of a CEO is to think about the value chain of the entire business and create a process that creates an organic flow. However, he said that when he meets stakeholders and explains the company or technology, he unconsciously falls into the habit of being a technician. He ends up excitedly using industry jargon. Kim Min-su said, “I think that it is detrimental to me in the long run if the other party I need to cooperate with does not understand my language. At such times, I try to explain as clearly as possible. For example, in the aquaculture industry, when I have to use the familiar expression ‘processing sludge,’ I say ‘it’s like filtering feces,’ or when explaining the process of biologically filtering nitrogen compounds, I say ‘think of it as a device that filters urine.’”
These efforts are also a key consideration when meeting not only business people but also fishermen. Fishermen are experts who produce high-quality shrimp with their own aquaculture experience and know-how, but since most of them are elderly fishermen who have been aquacultured using traditional methods, they are careful even when using a single term. For example, when meeting about smart farms, there are many cases where they do not understand basic terms used in aquaculture, such as PH concentration. CEO Kim Min-su added, “As a result, I often thought, ‘No matter how good the technology is, if it cannot be explained in an understandable way, it is useless.’ I am trying to use terms that anyone can understand, not technical terms, so that the chain of cooperation can be expanded.”
KOF's shrimp is just beginning
At the end of the interview, I asked if there was anything he would like to say to consumers he will meet in the future who think, “Wild is better than farmed.” Upon hearing the question, CEO Kim Min-su happily replied, “That is a very welcome question.”
According to his explanation, in Korea, especially when it comes to seafood, consumer evaluations of wild and farmed seafood are quite stark. In general, wild seafood is often thought to be of better quality and healthier, which is why farmed seafood is often undervalued. CEO Kim Min-su continued, “In fact, 99.9% of the shrimp we consume in Korea are farmed. Occasionally, there are wild shrimp, but they are extremely rare, and the white leg shrimp that we commonly eat are almost 100% farmed seafood distributed.” He continued, “However, since ‘wild seafood’ is particularly in the spotlight, I think it is necessary to correct the misunderstandings and concerns about farmed shrimp.”
He also said that while there is a consumer perception that wild-caught seafood is healthier and fresher than farmed seafood, this perception will gradually change as marine pollution and heavy metal issues increase day by day. Unlike in the past when seafood grown freely in a natural environment was considered the freshest, there are now many diseases and pollution flowing in from seawater, so from a macro perspective, his judgment was that the demand for fresh and healthy farmed seafood will gradually increase in terms of food security and securing healthy seafood resources. In line with this prediction, KOF added that it will continue to conduct stability tests for heavy metals, radioactivity, and antibiotics to increase reliability.
“KOF shrimp itself has not been fully sold yet, so we need to get some more reviews, but most people who have tried it say that it tastes sweeter than regular shrimp. However, the most positive review, more than the taste, would be its ‘freshness.’ There are reviews that say that it feels noticeably fresher than regular raw shrimp, so I think this is a unique feature of KOF shrimp. Shrimp farmed on land have a slightly bluish color, but this is a very normal form and there is no problem eating it, so feel free to eat it. Once you try it, you will definitely fall in love.”
KOF's land-based shrimp © Courtesy of KOF
Written by : Impact Square Kim So-seon, Manager
View the Full Article Text
2023.10.16
When the keyword for the October issue of IBT was set as 'technology', there was concern that it might convey a message like 'technology supremacy'. Also, since it is a keyword with a broad meaning, I thought that everyone's standards and expectations would be different, so I thought about it a lot. That's why I prepared it. In this October issue interview, we met with Kim Min-su, CEO of KOF, who is growing with innovative technology but also has a vivid philosophy on the meaning and limitations of technology, and talked about technology and values that were just as important.
<Editor's Note>
The last 20 years of risking one's life in shrimp farming
There is one thing I always ask entrepreneurs when I meet them. It is the reason for their startup. There is nothing more intuitive and clear than this question to deeply understand impact business. Before the interview, I briefly glanced at CEO Kim Min-su’s resume, which included ‘major in aquatic life sciences’ and ‘member of the Fisheries Resources/Marine Resources Research Institute,’ so I guessed that he discovered some social issues during his undergraduate years, gained related experience, and then started a business. However, CEO Kim Min-su’s answer was completely different. All of his resumes were decided after he had a clear sense of purpose: ‘I will become a shrimp farming expert and start a business.’
There was a fateful incident that first made him decide to farm shrimp. Among the acquaintances I met when I was young, there was someone who imported and distributed shrimp from overseas. While talking with him about various things, he discovered the overall status and problems of the shrimp market, as well as the value and vision of aquaculture from the perspective of a future industry. From then on, he decided to become an aquaculture expert, and a shrimp aquaculture expert in particular. He said, “After that, I majored in aquatic life medicine and worked at the Fisheries Resources Research Institute and the Marine Resources Research Institute, where I was able to study the marine environment, growth and diseases of aquatic organisms, and took the first step toward starting a shrimp aquaculture business, which I had long dreamed of.”
KOF is a company that develops smart shrimp farming solutions based on land to solve food problems from a macro perspective and to resolve marine pollution caused by the aquaculture industry. Furthermore, it has a mission to solve the instability of marine resources through smart aqua farm solutions that produce protein-rich shrimp and distribute them fresh. When I heard his answer that he recognized the problems of ‘marine pollution’ and ‘depletion of marine resources’, which anyone can easily relate to now, about 20 years ago and has been equipped with related knowledge and technology, I was able to immediately understand his inner strength and tenacity.
‘Technology’ that supports the direction we believe is right
KOF’s business competitiveness is diverse, but the most notable one is definitely ‘land-based aquaculture.’ Considering that approximately 85% of domestic aquaculture farms are located along the coast, this is a solution with a clear differentiation. Regarding this, CEO Kim Min-su said, “Aquaculture along the coast causes two problems. One is that it can be exposed to various diseases and marine pollution problems brought in through seawater, and the other is that if polluted water from aquaculture flows into the sea, marine pollution can worsen.” Nevertheless, it is still considered natural to build aquaculture farms near the coast because it is easy and quick to adjust the shrimp growth environment by utilizing seawater.
Since his 20s when he was concerned about the sustainability of aquatic resources, CEO Kim Min-su realized that land-based aquaculture was sustainable and worked to develop related technologies. As a result, CEO Kim Min-su has been able to develop a technology that allows shrimp to grow in an environment that is similar to, and even safer than, coastal areas by implementing water quality that is as similar as possible to the ocean environment and devising a system for shrimp to grow well over the past 20 years. In addition, he is effectively solving the problem of polluted water by introducing technologies for water quality management and disease prevention, as well as an eco-friendly, cutting-edge recirculating filtration aquaculture system. In addition, land-based aquaculture has the value of being able to provide the freshest shrimp with the least distribution channels because it can be done close to consumers.
“The important thing is not simply to produce well, but also to organically consider the connection between production and distribution, consumers and distributors. This will be KOF’s differentiating factor. The first key need of consumers and distributors is fresh shrimp. However, most shrimp farmers think that they only need to do well in farming, and leave all the steps after production to distributors. When I was planning the shrimp farming business, I thought that if we could shorten the distribution route by including the process until it reaches the consumer’s table in the organic value chain, this would also be competitive. I will explain more later, but the fact that KOF farms on land instead of along the coast and that this became the core standard for KOF Smart Aqua Farm is based on the idea that we need to consider the value chain to distribute the freshest shrimp closer to consumers. Of course, KOF’s unique technology has been a great support in pursuing this direction.”
Representative Kim Min-su standing in the formwork © Provided by KOF
Still, there was something more important than technology.
He also said that when he first started his business and was developing solutions, he naturally thought that the technical part was the most important. However, as the business gradually expanded, he added that he began to think that technology was just a supplementary material. When asked why, CEO Kim Min-su said, “If KOF had simply been a company with the technology to raise shrimp well, I think its growth would have been limited.” He continued, “This idea is based on my experience focusing only on technology development and shrimp production before founding KOF. Technology is a means of finding a balance based on what the market and consumers want. That is why, no matter how cutting-edge the technology is, if you don’t understand how it will be used in the market and what approach consumers want, it is not sustainable. That is why I felt it deeply through my two foundings.”
“For example, in the case of smart aqua farms, the current Aqua Farm 3.0 developed by KOF has the effect of reducing daily working hours by 75% compared to the same productivity with its own hardware system. This is the effect of reducing production costs through technological advancement. However, you can also think about it this way. If you build a fish farm of the same size, and it costs 3 billion won to build hardware that only requires 2 hours of work, while it costs 300 million won to build hardware that requires 6 hours of work, you can consider the current company’s situation and BEP and make a different judgment about which technology to introduce right away. Rather than unconditionally automating, an aqua farm that mixes manual and automatic operations can be a more sustainable and profitable solution. This is just a simplified example, but I don’t think that developing the ultimate technology separately from cost is the goal. When I think that we should continuously consider the optimal balance between business improvement and profit generation and move forward, I think that technology should play a role as an auxiliary in business.”
This balanced perspective has given KOF a unique competitive edge over its competitors: an organic value chain that can handle the entire aquaculture cycle.
“Smart Aqua Farm is comprised of a wide variety of sectors. Each stage of aquaculture, such as sensing, data management, monitoring, control, engineering, water purification, and disease prevention, is developing its own technology. As a result, there are companies in the aquaculture industry that are presenting or developing specialized solutions for each stage, but KOF’s biggest difference is that it organically structures all of these processes so that they can function as one circle or a large gear. In other words, while there were companies that were good at making hardware, companies that were good at making software, and companies that were good at aquaculture, KOF organically combines core technologies such as hardware/software/AI to meet the conditions for shrimp to grow well, and transforms them into technologies that can be farmed on land while considering environmental and distribution aspects. That’s what makes it different.”
We asked if there was anything he would like to say to entrepreneurs who are hoping to develop technology for growth but are still struggling because they don’t know what direction to take. CEO Kim Min-su said, “It may take 20 years to develop the optimal technology for the purpose, but if there is a market and consumers, I want to tell you that you can start anything right now.” He added, “Technology is a very important tool, but I think it is just one element that makes up the whole, and does not represent the whole, so I hope you don’t place too much meaning on technology itself.” It was heartfelt advice from CEO Kim Min-su, who also had the experience of being overly focused on technology development in the early days of his business and not being able to look at the business as a whole.
How technology goes with strangers
Kim Min-su, CEO, is currently focusing on his role as a manager rather than as a technician. He believes that the more important role of a CEO is to think about the value chain of the entire business and create a process that creates an organic flow. However, he said that when he meets stakeholders and explains the company or technology, he unconsciously falls into the habit of being a technician. He ends up excitedly using industry jargon. Kim Min-su said, “I think that it is detrimental to me in the long run if the other party I need to cooperate with does not understand my language. At such times, I try to explain as clearly as possible. For example, in the aquaculture industry, when I have to use the familiar expression ‘processing sludge,’ I say ‘it’s like filtering feces,’ or when explaining the process of biologically filtering nitrogen compounds, I say ‘think of it as a device that filters urine.’”
These efforts are also a key consideration when meeting not only business people but also fishermen. Fishermen are experts who produce high-quality shrimp with their own aquaculture experience and know-how, but since most of them are elderly fishermen who have been aquacultured using traditional methods, they are careful even when using a single term. For example, when meeting about smart farms, there are many cases where they do not understand basic terms used in aquaculture, such as PH concentration. CEO Kim Min-su added, “As a result, I often thought, ‘No matter how good the technology is, if it cannot be explained in an understandable way, it is useless.’ I am trying to use terms that anyone can understand, not technical terms, so that the chain of cooperation can be expanded.”
KOF's shrimp is just beginning
At the end of the interview, I asked if there was anything he would like to say to consumers he will meet in the future who think, “Wild is better than farmed.” Upon hearing the question, CEO Kim Min-su happily replied, “That is a very welcome question.”
According to his explanation, in Korea, especially when it comes to seafood, consumer evaluations of wild and farmed seafood are quite stark. In general, wild seafood is often thought to be of better quality and healthier, which is why farmed seafood is often undervalued. CEO Kim Min-su continued, “In fact, 99.9% of the shrimp we consume in Korea are farmed. Occasionally, there are wild shrimp, but they are extremely rare, and the white leg shrimp that we commonly eat are almost 100% farmed seafood distributed.” He continued, “However, since ‘wild seafood’ is particularly in the spotlight, I think it is necessary to correct the misunderstandings and concerns about farmed shrimp.”
He also said that while there is a consumer perception that wild-caught seafood is healthier and fresher than farmed seafood, this perception will gradually change as marine pollution and heavy metal issues increase day by day. Unlike in the past when seafood grown freely in a natural environment was considered the freshest, there are now many diseases and pollution flowing in from seawater, so from a macro perspective, his judgment was that the demand for fresh and healthy farmed seafood will gradually increase in terms of food security and securing healthy seafood resources. In line with this prediction, KOF added that it will continue to conduct stability tests for heavy metals, radioactivity, and antibiotics to increase reliability.
“KOF shrimp itself has not been fully sold yet, so we need to get some more reviews, but most people who have tried it say that it tastes sweeter than regular shrimp. However, the most positive review, more than the taste, would be its ‘freshness.’ There are reviews that say that it feels noticeably fresher than regular raw shrimp, so I think this is a unique feature of KOF shrimp. Shrimp farmed on land have a slightly bluish color, but this is a very normal form and there is no problem eating it, so feel free to eat it. Once you try it, you will definitely fall in love.”
KOF's land-based shrimp © Courtesy of KOF
Written by : Impact Square Kim So-seon, Manager
View the Full Article Text