The Struggle of Kim Kyu Jong Building a Nurungji Business, Now Successfully Owns His Own Factory

Kim Kyu Jong (Doc. Ist)

WartaGate.com - The name Kim Kyu Jong has long been recognized as a K-Pop idol as well as an actor active in South Korea’s entertainment industry. However, behind his activities in the entertainment world, the 39-year-old star has also successfully built a culinary business that is now growing rapidly.

Kim Kyu Jong is known for running a Korean snack business called nurungji, a crispy scorched rice snack that is quite popular in South Korea. He even admitted that he still actively promotes the product together with his group, FIVE O ONE.

In a YouTube show hosted by Hong Seok Cheon, Kim Kyu Jong shared the story of how he first entered the business. He explained that the idea for the nurungji business came unexpectedly during a conversation with a producer.

At the time, they were discussing the possibility of creating nurungji with more modern and unique flavors. One of the ideas that came up was truffle-flavored nurungji.

According to Kim Kyu Jong, nurungji was becoming a major trend at the time. He then saw a great opportunity to develop the product into a trendy snack with a variety of flavors.

His decision to start the business became more convincing because he had a friend who already owned a nurungji production factory. From there, Kim Kyu Jong began learning firsthand about the production process.

Not only did he become the business owner, but he also personally took part in the production process. To reduce labor costs during the early stages of the business, he even completed hygiene training and made nurungji manually himself.

He revealed that he wore full production gear, cooked the rice himself, and shaped the crispy rice snacks one by one. The experience made him realize that the process of making nurungji was quite complicated and required great attention to detail.

Kim Kyu Jong’s business journey was not always smooth. At one point, his business partner left him in the middle of the venture. Nevertheless, the situation motivated him to take the business even more seriously.

His hard work gradually paid off. Today, Kim Kyu Jong already owns his own factory for producing nurungji. His products have also become widely known and attracted many resellers.

He said that over the past two years, various pop-up stores have continuously contacted him to sell his nurungji products. The market response has been very positive.

To attract more consumers, Kim Kyu Jong introduced unique flavors such as truffle, yellow cheese, and chocolate cinnamon. These products reportedly sold very well and even sold out at Yongsan I'Park Mall.

On the other hand, Kim Kyu Jong’s business journey was initially doubted by his mother. His family originally hoped he would remain focused on the entertainment industry. However, after seeing the success and growth of his business, his mother has now become one of the biggest supporters of his nurungji business.