Binggrae

1960–1999

Hong Soon-ji (Korean: 홍순지) founded Daeil Corporation on 13 September 1967. Hong had founded the company with experience from making ice cream in Vietnam and selling it to the U.S. military in the 1960s. In 1971, Hong changed the name of the company to Daeil Dairy. In 1972, Daeil Dairy made a technological partnership with Foremost McKesson Inc., a company based in the United States. Due to handling issues, the Korea Explosives Group (later known as the Hanwha Group) acquired Daeil Dairy in 1973. Donong Plant 1 was also completed in Namyangju in 1973. In 1974, Binggrae's first mainstream products were released. Together (투게더), the first carton ice cream product made from raw milk in Korea was released in January of that year, and Banana Flavored Milk (바나나 맛 우유), a milk beverage was released in June. Starting in 1977, Daeil entered the fermented milk business (yogurt). In 1976, the partnership with Foremost Inc. ended, and the trademark was changed to Binggrae due to the Korean Language Purification Movement. In 1978, Daeil was listed on the Korea Stock Exchange. In 1982, Daeil Dairies was then renamed to Binggrae. The Gimhae Plant was completed in 1982. In 1984, Binggrae made a partnership with Nissin Foods to develop instant ramen, subsequently releasing urijib (우리집) ramen in 1986. In 1987, Binggrae opened the Binggrae Food Research Center and was designated as the official ice cream for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1991, Ssamanco (싸만코), an ice cream version of bungeo-ppang that contains red beans was released. Binggrae declared independence from the Hanwha group in 1992. In January of that year, Melona (메로나, Pronounced Merona), a creamy melon ice cream was released. In 1993, Binggrae was designated as the official ramen and ice cream supplier of the Daejeon Expo.

2000–present

In April 2003, Binggrae made a business alliance with Samyang Foods, and moved its ramen business to Pulmuone in the same month. As of 2010, around 5.3 billion bottles of Banana Flavored Milk have been sold across the country. Binggrae acquired Haitai Ice Cream Co., Ltd. March 2020. As a result of the acquisition, Binggrae now holds 40.7% of the South Korean Ice cream market, and sales rose 19.6% in 2021 to 1.14 trillion won (US$949 million). Additionally, 70% of South Korean Ice cream exports to the United States were Binggrae products as of 2020. December 2021, Binggrae started working with ramen manufacturer Paldo to re-launch their ramen.

Binggrae acquired Haitai Ice Cream backed by an argument to the Korea Fair Trade Commission that it should greenlight the acquisition proposal because it would block Lotte Confectionery from monopolizing the South Korean ice cream market and raising prices. After the acquisition, Binggrae increased ice cream prices (effectively annulling their promise). Binggrae raised the prices of products such as "Together" and "Melona" by 25 percent. Its rival Lotte Confectionery also increased the prices of some of its products by the same percentage, thus making the ice cream market more expensive. Binggrae justified the price hikes with rising costs of imported materials. The company was fined 135 billion won for price fixing in 2022.