1. What kind of company is Kimmaru?

Kimmaru specializes in processed seaweed foods that preserves the natural flavors of the ingredients with minimal processing. In addition to "Mermaid's Snack," an oven-baked seaweed snack, and "Tigado" which is crispy fried in sunflower oil, we are also developing a variety of products such as seaweed tortillas and fish jerky.

2. What inspired you to create the award-winning Mermaid's Snack?

Gimbugak (seaweed chips) is made with carefully processed Korean sweet rice and seaweed. I found it disappointing that gimbugak was deep-fried. So, I thought of ways to enjoy it without frying, and devised a method to oven-bake it. To complement what could be bland, I added toppings like anchovies, almonds, and shrimp.

3. What aspect did you focus on the most while developing the product?

I concentrated on preserving the natural flavors of quality raw ingredients. Seaweed harvested in winter has a fragrant and sweet aroma, and sweet rice is rich and easily digestible. I focused on finding ingredients that harmoniously complement each other while highlighting each ingredient’s uniqueness without using various seasonings. Most importantly, I worked hard to draw consumers’ attention with a different appeal from fried gimbugak. I used the toppings whole without cutting them, and designed the packaging to beautifully represent seaweed.

4. What challenges did you face during the production process?

It was difficult to shatter the perception that "gimbugak must be fried!" When I first brought the baked version to a flea market, older customers asked, "why did you bring it raw instead of fried?" After I explained the reasoning and invited them to try it, they became intrigued and started asking questions. The feedback from these conversations contributed to the creation of Mermaid's Snack.

5. What was the most memorable moment during the contest?

After the in-person evaluation, I tried to organize the judges' feedback on the KTX train to Busan, but honestly, I could only remember one moment. At the end of the evaluation, one judge gave me a thumbs-up and said, "this is delicious!"

6. What are your future plans and aspirations?

For the past 8 years since founding Kimmaru in 2016, we have actively operated in various places, including large department stores, famous hotels, and flea markets. We plan to expand our activities even further. With the end of COVID-19, I believe we can now broaden our stage to a global level, and I am filled with hopeful excitement that the tourism souvenir competition will mark the start of that expansion. We aim to expand our factory with more systematic processes and take a gradual approach in our expansion to ensure a smooth supply of primary raw materials.