“Predicting a Hot Wind of Well-Being, I Invented ‘Health Bread’ Seven Years Ago”

Baker Kim Young-mo, 51, had established a bakery in 1982 with 30 million won as a foundational fund, making use of his name as a brand. As of 2004, after 20 years have passed, the brand value of “Kim Young-mo Bakery” has reached 3 billion won.

On “Success! Billionaire Report!” the financial technique recommendation corner of “Live TV How To Get Rich!” one of the most popular television programs of SBS, the secret management method of Kim, in the bakery industry, will be introduced.

Kim’s childhood was full of misfortune. Due to his parents’ divorce, he was raised in his aunt’s house alone and in poverty. Hoping to heartily eat the glossy breads displayed in a show window of a bakery, he decided to learn bread baking techniques and he quit school when he was in his second year of high school. In 1982, he established, “Kim Young-mo Bakery” in Seoul with three employees. Adding up his branches in Dogok-dong, Seoul, he retains more than 100 employees today.

The first place in his success know-how list is occupied by his invention of, “Health Bread.” He had predicted a hot wind of “well-being” (an increase in health consciousness) would be prevalent in the near future, so he invented a natural fermented bread after seven years of gradual effort. Baking not with yeast, but with lactic ferments, he mixes flour powder into it, in order to produce a soft bread that does not cause people to feel overly full when they it, thus attracting a lot of people’s attention. “Kim Young-mo Bakery” provides various kinds of bread while producing a small amount of each kind of bread, baking 200 kinds of bread, ice-cream, and cakes everyday. It is a sort of “bread on customer’s demand” technique which satisfies the diverse tastes of the customers. Plus it’s always fresh as the bakery does not sell the bread three hours after it’s made.

In addition, recognizing the tendency that husband and wife earn the money together, he commenced morning delivery service from the time he opened the bakery. The customers can see through the transparent show window to watch their ordered bread being made. This was dreamt up in order to give confidence to the customers as to his bread’s quality. The producer of, “Success! Billionaire Report!” remarked that, “we have grasped the critical information that could be helpful to people who want to try to establish a bakery.

Jin-Yeong Lee ecolee@donga.com