Yeon Jin-guk, an intern researcher at the Funding Institute. Filled with determination and passion, Yeon Jin-guk has finally been assigned his first task.
“Hey, intern researcher, would you like to write a funding research log?”
Yeon Jin-guk, who got scolded on his first day of work for confusing "cloud" with "crowd" (
How on earth did you end up becoming a research intern?Will he be able to carry out the mission successfully?Here begins Yeon Jin-guk’s Funding Exploration Diary.
I saw this on social media—it’s a crowdfunding campaign, right?
Although I speak with a perfect Seoul accent and few people know it, I’m actually from outside the capital region. Before moving here, my biggest complaint was that there were no good restaurants or trendy spots where I lived. (There are plenty of hotspots in the provinces now, but back then, there were even fewer.) Why are all the famous places in Seoul? Is this the gap between the capital region and the rest of the country? It’s so unfair, so unfair. Whenever I went on a trip to Seoul, I’d be busy drawing up a food map days in advance and fitting it into the gaps between my schedule.
The pandemic and the contactless era of the past three years have driven the development of delivery culture and meal kit technology. Now, you can enjoy food from all over the country right at home. It’s also common to find cafes that ship their signature dishes nationwide via orders placed on social media, particularly Instagram. As we entered the endemic era, it seemed like this business might be facing a crisis. However, its popularity remains strong because it saves on transportation costs and eliminates the time spent traveling back and forth and waiting. For restaurant owners, this is a win-win situation, as they can attract a diverse customer base from all over the country.
In line with this trend, funding platforms began featuring popular restaurants from all over the country. The project titles alone could easily map out the eight provinces of Korea—Jeju, Incheon, Busan, and more. Examples include “Enjoy Seongsu-dong’s best restaurants from the comfort of your home!”, “A Gimpo restaurant that sells out by the afternoon,” and “The legend of Yongsan tteokbokki.” Many of these were places I’d seen at least once in posts by my social media friends…
So! In this research log, I’m going to take a closer look at the social media-famous restaurants that have popped up on crowdfunding platforms.
That's the place I saw on social media.
Early in the story, this line appears:
“Yes, that’s the same Cafe Mama I saw on social media.”
Cafe Mamas, which boasts a massive number of tagged posts (as of November 16, 2022)
Cafe Mamas began in 2002 as a small café on the corner of Seosomun. It was a healthy slow-food restaurant that utilized European ingredients such as ricotta cheese and panini. With foreign companies and young female office workers as its main customers, it grew rapidly as it won their hearts. Today, it has grown into a company with no fewer than 20 company-owned locations. Even now, 20 years later, Cafe Mamas continues to be loved and generates numerous hashtags on Instagram.
It’s definitely a hotspot! / Source: #CafeMamas’ signature brunch—no introduction needed | Enjoy an epic brunch at home!
Cafe Mamas’ signature dish is the ricotta cheese salad! The cheese is made fresh in small batches right in the store using a homemade method. The ciabatta served alongside it has also been perfected and handmade over the course of 20 years. Given that these are handmade, fresh products, shipping them may be difficult, but this product crowdfunding.
Source: #CafeMamas' signature brunch—no introduction needed | Enjoy an unforgettable brunch at home!
“Cafe Mamas has launched a Wadiz crowdfunding campaign to bring our brand closer to people across the country. The valuable funds raised through Wadizcampaign will be used to introduce Cafe Mamas to an even wider audience and to establish ourselves as the nation’s leading ricotta cheese producer. With this Wadiz campaign as our starting point, Cafe Mamas is poised to grow into a food company offering a wide range of food services!”
In its Wadiz funding description, Cafe Mamas defines the purpose of this campaign as follows: Over the past 10 years, Cafe Mamas has grown from a small café into an offline brand with multiple company-owned locations. Now, it aims to evolve into a food company that provides multi-food services without the boundaries between online and offline. This funding campaign serves as the stepping stone for that leap forward!
Since the funding campaign ended, Cafe Mamas has continued to distribute its products through platforms such as Wadiz, Market Kurly, and Naver Smart Store.
Make that famous sandwich from social media at home
As if to prove its status as a Gwanghwamun hotspot, this project also proudly displayed its social media accounts right at the start of the story. The number of followers and the reviews posted by customers who’ve visited the restaurant speak to its status as a true “hot spot.” (A little TMI from Yeon Jin-guk: First, I’ve actually waited in line to eat there myself. Second, the Inwangsan and Hillside Table route is famous among fitness enthusiasts. Of course, I’ve done that route myself.)
Hillside Table Instagram Profile (as of November 16, 2022)
Hillside Table began as a small salad shop in 2013. It is widely loved not only by office workers in Gwanghwamun but also by health-conscious foodies who make the trip from far away. The secret to its success lies in its “brand philosophy” and “quality ingredients.” Having started out by personally selecting high-quality ingredients from farms to create fresh salads, the restaurant has remained true to that founding belief, continuing to serve fresh food to this day. “Health management must be sustainable, which is why it must be delicious!” Guided by this philosophy, they bake sprouted brown rice bread made with seven grains and create light soy milk cheese without added cream.
Hillside Table’s Soy Milk Cheese Sandwich / Source: “Hillside Table,” a Gwanghwamun restaurant you can enjoy at home—Soy Milk Cheese Sandwich Meal Kit
The signature dish here is the soy milk cheese sandwich. Hillside Table has prepared meal kits so that you can enjoy this dish right here in this remote village, without having to go through the trouble of taking the KTX to Seoul Station, then hopping on a bus to Gwanghwamun and walking all the way here. They’ve prepared meal kits for this very reason. Perhaps it’s because they want to spread their philosophy of “being healthy in a delicious way,” rather than just promoting healthy food?
This meal kit consists of soy milk cheese and sprouted brown rice bread, which are key to both the taste and nutritional value of the sandwich. The soy milk cheese, in particular, comes in three flavors—original, matcha, and butternut squash—so you can enjoy a variety of healthy options. All you need is this meal kit? That’s exactly what Hillside Table is all about. You can easily recreate that flavor. Everyone has butternut squash, strawberry jam, nuts, and vegetables in their fridge, right?
Hillside Table announced that it would use the crowdfunding proceeds to cover food development costs for creating a wider variety of breads and soy milk cheeses. Six months later, they launched another crowdfunding campaign featuring strawberry soy milk cheese, tangzhong grain bread, and biscotti. After that, they even sold their products briefly Wadiz! (They’re not available there anymore. What a shame…)
No waiting—just sit back and enjoy the taste
With frequent reports of celebrity visits, this spot is a must-know for anyone in the know when it comes to social media hotspots. It boasts a whopping 22,345 posts with the hashtag and 23K followers. (As of November 15, 2022) This is BoMarket, a community-focused platform dedicated to transforming the value of neighborhoods! It has a presence in all the hottest neighborhoods right now, from Namsan and Gyeongnidan-gil to Seoul Forest and Sinchon.
BoMarket Instagram Profile (as of November 15, 2022)
This place aims to make life beautiful, practical, and delicious. To that end, we offer a wide variety of products, ranging from home living items that spark a desire to collect and buy, to convenient foods like wine, snacks, and dairy products. If you search the #BOMARKET hashtag, the most common photos you’ll see are of the deli menu, including brunch. The most popular item on the menu is none other than tteokbokki! (According to the BOMARKET chef, it’s “Korean brunch.”) True to its reputation as a popular spot where a one-hour wait is considered normal, the tteokbokki occasionally sells out, so they’ve turned it into a meal kit and launched a crowdfunding campaign.
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- Source: [Trending Restaurants on Social Media] Enjoy popular tteokbokki from home! Bo Market Tteokbokki
What makes this special is that we developed the meal kits in collaboration with John Cook, a brand easily found at Bo Market. Bo Market stores carry a wide variety of John Cook’s deli meat products. In other words, this crowdfunding campaign marks Bo Market’s second collaboration with John Cook. John Cook already sells ham, ready-to-eat meals, and deli meats through its own online store and various e-commerce platforms. When it comes to online distribution—including meal kits and packaging—John Cook serves as a valuable partner and mentor to Bo Market! Thanks to this collaboration, supporters can now enjoy the taste of freshly made tteokbokki at home, just like they would in the store.
Source: [Trending Restaurants on Social Media] Enjoy popular tteokbokki from home! Bo Market Tteokbokki
Why did John Cook choose crowdfunding even though it already had its own online store as a distribution channel? Perhaps it’s because crowdfunding can serve as a means of promotion and market validation. Currently, Tteokbokki is being sold at full price on its own online store following the successful completion of the crowdfunding campaign.
A Social Media Sensation: Crowdfunding to Take the Next Step!
Why is a popular social media restaurant running a crowdfunding campaign? That was my first thought when I saw a familiar name in the project title. Upon taking a closer look at the project, the answer to that question became immediately clear.
While the fundamental concept of crowdfunding is to raise funds and offer corresponding rewards, as the culture of crowdfunding has taken root, values that go beyond this concept have emerged. First, by running a crowdfunding project, creators can communicate with supporters and validate the market potentialof their business and products. Second, they can identify areas for improvement andgenerate new ideas. Third, opportunities to expand into new distribution channelsalso open up. In fact, it is not uncommon for creators to receive offers from e-commerce platforms to list their products after the funding campaign ends.
Even for popular restaurants with long-standing reputations where customers line up to eat, online distribution—including mass production, packaging, meal kit conversion, and shipping—can be a major challenge. For this reason, it may be difficult for them to take the plunge on their own. Crowdfunding serves as a trial run or soft launch for them before they venture into online distribution. By tracking the number of backers and the amount raised, they can verify the competitiveness of their online product launch in advance. They can also use feedback from supporters to provide better service in future distribution efforts. Isn’t this why popular social media spots and restaurants choose crowdfunding as their first step? To take a leap toward greater heights.
That wraps up Day 9 of my crowdfunding journal. Next time, I’ll have to discover some great local eateries from all over the country through these crowdfunding projects.
It looks like it’s time for a treasure hunt!
View other logs 👀
Episode 1: “My First Assignment Has Been Assigned”
Episode 2: “Funding: One Name, Several Meanings”
Episode 3: “One Heartfelt Story Is Worth More Than Ten Features”
Episode 4: “We Are the Gen Z Crowdfunding Pioneers”
Episode 5: “Is There Such a Thing as This Kind of Fundraising? People Deeply Dedicated to a Single Cause”
Episode 6: “Is There Such a Crowdfunding Campaign? Everyone’s Own Way of Thinking About the Environment”
Episode 7: “Let’s Go on a Special Trip Through Crowdfunding”
Episode 8: “Workation: I’m Going on One Through Crowdfunding!”
Episode 10: “Showcasing Local Delicacies from Across the Country Through Crowdfunding!”
Episode 11: “Crowdfunding: A Dash of Excitement for the Good Life”
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