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Mama O's saves
US $100,000 in packaging costs on Alibaba.com
Kheedim Oh
Founder, Mama O's Premium Kimchi

"I've never set out to start a business — it found me...
However, it is with Alibaba.com that my business is able to thrive."

Story

Mama O’s Premium Kimchi, a Brooklyn-based company founded in 2007 by Kheedim Oh, sells homemade kimchi and kimchi products. Formerly a DJ and musician, Kheedim was unimpressed with the kimchi options available on supermarket shelves. He asked his mother for her traditional kimchi recipes, and the idea for “Mama O’s” was born.

After Kheedim made his first 50-pound batch of kimchi, he received an inquiry from a local Brooklyn butcher shop. Kheedim tasked himself with creating a company. He got the job done, manufacturing and distributing his fresh kimchi and keeping up with the demand for a few years. But in 2019, he sought out more affordable and environmentally friendly packaging options. In the past, he had bad experiences with his packaging manufacturer, so decided to look for new options.

Solution

Kheedim is a member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce as well as the Food Export Association. He learned about Alibaba.com from one of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce events. The Chamber let Kheedim know that Alibaba.com recently opened its platform for US sellers (i.e., distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers, and brands) to sell to its 10 million+ global buyers. Kheedim decided to attend the Alibaba.com Build Up in Brooklyn to find out how he could access the suppliers, tools, and services available on the platform.

Kheedim discovered a manufacturer on Alibaba.com who helped him switch from glass jars to a more-compact, recyclable plastic packaging. One of the key reasons he decided to use Alibaba.com was because of Trade Assurance, the order protection policy. Through the Trade Assurance escrow payment mechanism, buyers and sellers from opposite ends of the world can do business and transact with one another with minimal risk exposure.

Success

Trade Assurance provided Kheedim with the safety net he needed to move his packaging manufacturing overseas. Through Alibaba.com, Kheedim found a manufacturer that was communicative, reliable, and efficient, and he was able to save an estimated US $100,000 (pre-tax) in packaging manufacturing costs. And because the packaging is more compact, he can ship more products at once, significantly reducing shipping costs for his distributor and retailer customers. Kheedim is now a buyer and a seller on the platform as he opened an Alibaba.com storefront for Mama O’s Premium Kimchi to sell to the world. His products are currently sold in Whole Foods.

*Source: Kimchi Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024

$100K
saved on packaging costs
7.40%
predicted YOY growth rate of the kimchi market*
$2.39B
growth in the global kimchi market from 2020-2024*
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