With the press of a button, a silicone belt spreads white rice into an 18cm by 18cm square, 5mm thick. A person adds fillings like pickled radish, carrots, and burdock root, then presses the button again to roll the gimbap. The process takes just about 30 seconds. Transferring it to a gimbap cutter, it slices into 10 pieces in 5 seconds.
Kim Chil-hyun (66), CEO of Lucky Engineering, has been manufacturing machines that automatically produce gimbap and sushi since 1992. In an interview at the Seoul Food Exhibition on the 11th, he said, “When I first started the gimbap and sushi machine business, many people belittled the idea, questioning if I could make money with it, but I consistently developed the technology.” Today, Kim’s machines are supplied to 21 companies in South Korea, including Hilton and Korean street food franchises like KimGaNae and Kobongmin Gimbap. The machines are also used in 400 stores across major marts, including E-mart, Lotte Mart, and Homeplus, to make sushi.
Kim began his career in 1985 at Korea Tungsten, a public enterprise specializing in tungsten production. At that time, it was a highly coveted company among university students, comparable to ‘Sunkyong Group (now SK Group)’ and ‘Kolon.’ After about five years, a client suggested importing machine tools from the US, and Kim bravely quit his job to pursue this business. However, because he was no longer a public company employee, no one was interested in his venture, and he had to close the business within a year. “During the year I was unemployed, I jumped into five or six promising fields like concentration improvement devices, but all failed miserably,” he said.
In 1992, at the age of 34, he heard that “using Japanese gimbap machines to make Korean gimbap often results in the sides bursting.” This insight led him to think, “Gimbap should be rolled with Korean machines,” and thus, he conceived the idea of a Korean-style gimbap machine business. He spent three years researching and developing the machine, often using up to 10kg of rice in a single trial. Despite his efforts, he faced harsh criticism that “handmade gimbap is better than machine-made.” He managed to sell only 7-8 machines annually at 15 million won each. Even though a famous hotel in Seoul showed initial interest after the launch, they ultimately rejected his proposal, saying, “Gimbap is all about the handmade taste; don’t think about making it with a machine.”
Kim’s first big opportunity came in 1999 during the era of large-scale supermarkets. The rising popularity of ready-to-eat sushi bento boxes in these marts became his stepping stone. As demand grew, supermarkets began looking for sushi machines, and Kim’s devices were selected. He initially conducted trial runs at around 10 locations, including E-mart Yongsan. This quickly led to a surge in his annual sales, which jumped to 1 billion won (approximately $722,543).
Since 2020, with support from KOTRA, his business expanded into overseas markets, including the US and Japan. He supplied gimbap machines to about 30 H Mart stores, a well-known large mart chain in North America, and received numerous inquiries from locals and Koreans wanting to open Korean restaurants.
As a result, his company’s total sales increased from 5.24 billion won (approximately $3.79 million) in 2020 to 10.3 billion won (about $7.44 million) last year, nearly doubling in three years. During the same period, export sales tripled from 540 million won (approximately $390,173) to 1.8 billion won (approximately $1.31 million). Export sales from January to May this year have already reached 1.74 billion won (approximately $1.26 million). He said, “Orders are pouring in from North America, Australia, as well as Poland, Bulgaria, and Mexico,” and added, “In the second half of this year, we will also release machines for roll cakes, kebabs, and Vietnamese spring rolls.”
