Korean meat product trading platform Meatbox registers phenomenal growth

Korean startup Global Networks that operate the B2B wholesale price trading site for meat products, Meatbox, recently announced that its cumulative turnover in 2021 has exceeded 850 billion won or about $631 million in seven years of its establishment. In 2019, Meatbox had registered 300 billion won or about $265 million transactions.

Buy, sell and get live market info for meat prices

Launched in 2014, Meatbox is a unique B2B e-commerce platform that enables importers or those who sell livestock products, restaurants that sell meats, factories, and livestock products, and butcher shops to deal directly. The service is focused on providing data about the true price of meat, and lets buyers and sellers keep track of live market information. Butchers and other food retailers can save up to 20% by buying direct from sellers using Meatbox. It also acts as a supporting platform for producers and importers by offering marketing, sales, and delivery services.

The growth of Meatbox is driven by restaurants, butchers, and distributors in livestock. The startup caters to 700,000 restaurants nationwide about 60,000 butchers and distributors. It plans to dominate B2B market by expanding its business further. Meatbox’s bundled service helps to solve sales, storage, and settlement at once by reducing the existing complicated livestock distribution structure through direct transactions. In addition, it has a cold chain system and has established a delivery network to enable next-day delivery. As a result, nationwide sales are easier, and management costs and foreign trade can be reduced. “The amount of monthly transactions is increasing as the mutual benefits of livestock sellers and buyers are brought about through the meat box,” said Seo Young-jin, president of Global Networks.

Benefits to buyers boost sales

Meatbox also provides about 7,000 different products at 15-30% lower prices to individual buyers, restaurants, butchers and distributors. As the direct transaction proceeds, unnecessary procedures are omitted and distribution margins are reduced, enabling reasonable sales.

Buyers are also receiving significant benefits because of the purchase cost reduction to about 20%. For buyers, it is 20% cost saving to use Meatbox rather than a general wholesale process for livestock products. Buyers also receive additional discounts with over 320,000 coupons distributed annually.

Global Networks had received funding from prominent investors like Altos Ventures, DT&Investment, Devsisters Ventures, Daehan Flour Mills, Gorilla PE. Japan’s SoftBank Ventures had put in 3 billion won or $2.5 million in Global Networks.

Kibong Kim, CEO of Meatbox, said, “We plan to build a channel that extends beyond B2B to the B2C market by steadily providing reasonable prices based on direct transactions and further strengthening the platform’s competitiveness,” he said.

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