JEJU-DO < invest Korea

“GYULMEDAL plans and sells a variety of citrus-themed products. From clothing and lifestyle items to tableware, we cover everything you might use in daily life. Our goal is to take something as familiar as citrus and create fresh, unique experiences. That's why GYULMEDAL positions itself as a lifestyle brand."

Yang Je-hyun, CEO of GYULMEDAL

GYULMEDAL is a company that has quickly gained attention by merging the seemingly unrelated worlds of tangerines and lifestyles, offering a range of food and beverage products, IP merchandise, and social media content. Even more impressively, they operate from Jeju Island, Korea’s largest tangerine-producing region. With a brand mission to "Make the moment of eating tangerines special," GYULMEDAL has grown into a business with annual sales of KRW 3 billion within just two years of its launch. Here’s the story of how GYULMEDAL uses the strategy of "making the familiar unfamiliar" to propose a new lifestyle.

Q. What inspired the launch of the GYULMEDAL brand?

Our family has been running a citrus farm in Sinrye-ri, Namwon-eup, for three generations, beginning with my grandfather and father. When I decided to carry on the family business, I wanted to go beyond simply growing tangerines—I wanted to create a new brand. Unlike other farms that focus mainly on marketing the producers and production areas, we chose to highlight the diverse varieties and flavors of tangerines. We started with fruit distribution in 2020 and expanded to processed products like fresh juices the following year. Recently, we’ve ventured into IP merchandise, showcasing new aspects of citrus.

Q. What was your main focus when launching products?

 I believe that the best tangerine is the one that suits your taste, so it’s important to experience a variety of tangerine types. However, with so many varieties differing in taste, appearance, and seasonality, it can be hard to remember their names. So, we created a sampler kit that allows customers to taste different types of citrus, including rarer varieties like "Karahyang" and "Sinbihyang," all in one package. The kit includes a card explaining each variety and a notebook where customers can score and record their tasting experiences, helping them discover their personal citrus preferences.

Q. Your company is known for both excellent product quality and strong branding. GYULMEDAL’s Instagram, in particular, is popular for its clever content.

In the early days of the business, like most farms, we uploaded farm images with a green, nature-themed background. Now, we’ve rebranded with a clear sky-blue color as the main theme, focusing on citrus to establish a new identity. Since tangerines are such a common fruit, we always strive to avoid becoming monotonous. When developing content, we often draw inspiration from fashion brands rather than food brands, brainstorming ideas and then linking them to tangerines.

Q.Your brand is known for actively exploring new sales platforms, having recently entered Coupang, Toss, and 29CM. Do you have specific sales strategies for each platform?

Each platform has a different concept and target audience, so our sales strategies vary accordingly. For example, on channels where middle-aged customers are the main users, we emphasize farm images and focus on selling raw produce. On platforms with a higher influx of customers in their 20s and 30s, we highlight exclusive products or merchandise.

Q. You regularly hold offline events such as brand campaigns and pop-up stores.

As a food brand that started online, I believe creating opportunities for offline interaction with customers is essential. These events allow us to showcase products like Tangerine Americano and Karahyang Ice Cream, which are difficult to sell online. We also develop products exclusively for pop-up stores, which allows us to gauge customer reactions before deciding on an official launch.

Q Can you share any examples of collaborations with local brands?
 We collaborated with Jeju's handmade candy shop, Mr. Sweets, to sell tangerine-flavored candy, and we partnered with the local brand store SOGIL BYEOLHA to launch our new Winter Prince juice at a pop-up store. Recently, we opened a pop-up store at the Galleria Department Store in Suwon to sell citrus IPA craft beer made with Tamna Ales. We plan to continue collaborating with various brands, as these partnerships not only create a powerful synergy but also help us discover new possibilities for GYULMEDAL.

Q. As a startup incubated by the Jeju Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (JCCEI), you received seed funding and a matching loan from private investors last year. Can you talk about that process and the changes that followed?
Being selected as an incubated company through the JCCEI’s local creator development program provided us with office space, and we were able to expand our business quickly with the help of the accelerator program and seed funding.

Q. Lastly, could you share GYULMEDAL’s short-term and long-term plans and goals?

To fulfill our brand mission of spreading joy through citrus, I believe that those delivering the message must first find joy themselves. The process is never easy, and there will be failures, but I believe those experiences will accumulate as valuable assets. In terms of products, we want to expand our drink line more broadly. We recently registered juice made from the new tangerine variety "Winter Prince" with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, allowing anyone to develop food products using this variety. Moving forward, GYULMEDAL will continue pioneering new markets and leading trends in the citrus industry.