Evenstar

24. Seoul Comfort Food

"No, that's not possible."

Dae Eun arrived at Seoul Comfort Food at the Songpa-gu district by 9 AM. She had brought samples of their fruits and jams, kimchi and sauces for the proprietor, Jo Iseul, a handsome man in his early 30s, and he was very interested in ordering their products. They also wanted to resell their products but under the Seoul Comfort Food brand name.

"Your business name is not known here, Ms Kwan. Do you have distribution channels here?"

"No, but we would like to distribute our products under our own brand." Dae Eun couldn't believe she was hearing this, after their whole morning conversation seemed to have gone very well. Even the price of each product had already been settled. "We run a farming community and a major part of our income is distributed to small farmer families. We'd like to develop a market that patronizes this kind of system, which treats the farmers on a more equal footing with landowners. If we follow what you say, then we'll never be known by the market."

"No offense, but you have no market yet in Seoul," he insisted. "I'm offering you our market, which we've established through five branches all over Seoul. Maybe you won't be known right away, but at least you'll get an income stream."

"I'm afraid this is not negotiable." Dae Eun wanted to stand her ground. Their brand name was Hae Eun Foods, named after her mother because it was her eomma who inspired her to keep their farm going. They had a website that explained what their brand was all about, and although their hits were still minimal she had high hopes for their brand in the future.

"Then I'm sorry too that you had to go all this way. We've never carried another brand in our restaurants." Iseul stood up from the table and shook hands with Dae Eun to end their meeting. The produce that she carried was really good, but she was asking for free advertising and that was a bold stance for a newbie, especially one so young. He was willing to wait a few days, maybe she would change her mind.

Dae Eun stepped out of the restaurant with Sunhee and Baek-Hyeon. They were in high spirits when they arrived and everyone was gloomy after hearing how the negotiation ended.

"It's okay, there will be other opportunities." Dae Eun assured them. They brought boxes of fruits and products with them, just in case Jo Iseul already wanted to order, and Dae Eun wanted to sell them all to soften the defeat she felt. They decided to restaurant-hop and tried to speak to the owners. She had done this before, when she was younger, but the older owners just shooed her away. It was no different now, except maybe they were more polite.

Frustrated and hungry, Dae Eun took them to a cafe at the corner fronting the Jamsil Olympic Stadium block. It was almost noon and they ordered sandwiches. Sunhee was happy to choose from the assortment of pastries in the glass display at the counter but Baek-Hyeun just wanted coffee after his meal. Nana and their Uncle Jun-Ho were left at their apartment. She would take them all to dinner later that evening as a treat for making her birthday so memorable.

When they finished, Dae Eun decided to try again. She would give this her best shot because their farm's expansion depended on it. She politely asked the girl at the counter if the owner was present, and she pointed to two young women seated at a far end of the cafe with their laptops open. Dae Eun thought they were college students, studying. She approached them politely and introduced herself. They were friendly and asked her to sit with them. Soon enough she was making her pitch for their farm products and presented them with samples, which they found to be very good. To Dae Eun's surprise, they agreed to carry some of their jams on consignment and purchased two boxes of their peaches and dried persimmons for their pastries. To express her gratitude, Dae Eun gave them packs of their kimchi and sauces for free, so they could taste it. They exchanged numbers and promised to get in touch.