ABOUT US
Ham Tae-ho dreams of Ottogi's future.
Honorary Chairman Poonglim, Ham Tai Ho
(1930 - 2016)OTTOGI's founder, the late Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho, was born in Wonsan, South Hamgyang in 1930. As the eldest son of his father, Ham Hyeong-Jun, and his mother, Lee Deok-Bal, he entered Gyeonggi High School and volunteered for military service instead of joining the refugees when the Korean War broke out in 1950. He, who loved his nation more than himself, went through the Army General School, which was a temporary military training school during the Korean War, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, where he served until 1957.
Leaving the Military, Learning Management
Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho, who braved death at the front line with sincerity for the nation as a soldier, realized that it was also essential and urgent to promote a food industry for the nation's economy stuck in poverty and impoverished citizens, as much as to protect the country with weapons. After retiring from the military as a major, he joined Choheung Chemical in 1959 and began his career. Over the following ten years, he received management lessons from his father and went through extensive experience in planning, sales, and finance. On the other hand, he entered Hongik University's Department of Commerce and got his diploma, and later completed a master's course at Yonsei University Graduate School of Business in 1968 to build his knowledge as a manager. These harsh experiences turned him into CEO Ham Tai Ho.
Ten years after joining Choheung Chemical, he dreamed of starting his own business. While it was important to follow in his father's footsteps, he thought it was much more meaningful to pioneer his own path. The field he chose after careful consideration was the food business. This was due to his deep understanding of the food business as he worked at Choheung Chemical, which produces artificial sweeteners and food additives, and his will to contribute to improving people's diet habits by directly getting involved in the food business. Once his decision became firm, he exclaimed his aspiration to his father and left Choheung Chemical to stand alone, with his father's full support.
Created by a Prepared Manager'Curry and Mayonnaise Zeal'
In 1969, Ham Tai Ho, aged 40, founded Poonglim Trading Company and set up a small factory in Mullae-dong, Yeongdeungpo. Long preparation made everything smooth, and after only a few months of preparation, the first product was released on May 5, 1969. This was when 'OTTOGI Curry,' which has been staying at the top for over half a century, first appeared in the world. Indian curry converted its form in Japan and became a new food in Korea in a way that no one had thought of before. Since then, Honorary Chairman Ham Tae-Ho and OTTOGI's growth has been unstoppable. They introduced soup, ketchup, mayonnaise, and vinegar, one after another, leading to innovation in the Korean diet. Whenever they release a new product, it instantly becomes a bestseller in the market, and the ready-to-eat products, represented by OTTOGI 3-minute Curry, let OTTOGI leave a huge impression on the market.
In the late 1980s, OTTOGI entered the ramen business by acquiring Cheongbo Foods and expanding its horizons into the tuna can and instant rice markets, solidifying its position as a food company. OTTOGI Co., Ltd., which established its foundation for growth as a mid-sized company by recording sales of 10 billion won in 1979, just ten years after its foundation, and 100 billion won in 1988, continues to grow, opening up an era of sales of 2 trillion won in 2017. OTTOGI Co., Ltd. has never shown negative growth during the half-century since its establishment, instead making a significant move forward. The released product types and levels are more diversified and deepened. Currently, OTTOGI has grown into a national company and a necessity company whose product is in every kitchen and meal.
Ever-Stand Still Spirit of OTTOGI
To OTTOGI Co., Ltd., and its Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho, OTTOGI(tumbling toy) is not to rise after fall but to stand still without tumbling or falling. The case where it protected its occupancy in the Korean market against various multinational companies in competition lasted for over ten years in the 1980s, shows its strength as an entrepreneur and its innovative marketing, such as the introduction of route sales for the first time in Korea, where salesperson directly visit customers to help with product display and face the end customers directly, the introduction of free-sample booth and female sales staff for the first time in Korea, and the introduction of unconventional vehicle advertisement marketing for the first time in Korea, to move customers demonstrates his creative and forward-looking spirit. Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho, treated his employees like his family even in the fierce market competition to raise morale, and fought and endured together with its partner companies through shared growth that guaranteed their profit.
Sincere Patriotic Spirit, Warm Sharing
The logo, which features a child's bright smile in a tumbling toy, is the most famous design of our time. However, as a businessman and a human, Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho was a shadowlike manager. Even though he promoted its products and the brand, the CEO has always stood behind it. The saying 'Do not let your left hand know what the right hand is doing,' depicts his whole life. He always kept in his heart that the country comes first. That's why every OTTOGI factory across the nation always hoists the national flag and plays to the fourth verse of the national anthem at its monthly assemblies and events. This ritual is to solidify its resolution to contribute to the country while singing the national anthem, which is uncommon these days, but a scene that shows the spirit of Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho, who always puts the nation before us, and us before himself.
What put his patriotic spirit further was his practice of warm sharing. He, who contributed to the community and helped those in need at a company level even from its early days, established the OTTOGI Foundation in 1996 and launched a scholarship program, providing 5 billion won in scholarships to 800 college students, and even after his death, it continued to deliver scholarships of about 7 billion won to over 1,000 students. In 2012, OTTOGI began a sponsorship project with the Miral Welfare Foundation, a welfare foundation for the disabled. It is not a simple donation, but the provision of an environment in which people can stand alone by providing jobs through a self-reliance program, Good Will Store. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2021, OTTOGI continues its sponsorship project for people with disabilities.
An inseparable part of Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho's life is sponsoring children with heart disease. After hearing the news that saveable lives were suffering because they could not afford the highest surgery cost in 1992, he started supporting children with congenital heart disease through the Korea Heart Foundation. Starting with five children every month; currently, 22 children are receiving new life every month with the support of OTTOGI Co., Ltd. Before he passed away in September 2016, the number of children he saved was 4,265. His beautiful legacy has been continued by OTTOGI ever since. The long sharing became a huge number of children and youth coming to his funeral, who cherished the letters written by children who gained new life more than any other honor.
Valuable Life
Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho spent most of his life as an entrepreneur and built OTTOGI Co., Ltd. into Korea's leading food company. This results from his devotion to discovering and creating new flavors and spreading them for worlds to savor them. His will to enrich our tables is well reflected in OTTOGI's corporate philosophy that has been firmly maintained since its establishment: 'A company that contributes to the improvement of human diet and health, a company that values taste and quality the most, and a company that acts upon customers, and a company that is necessary for humanity.' Also, his life confirmed that OTTOGI's corporate philosophy is actual practice.
Honorary Chairman Ham Tai Ho, who lived his entire life with the principle of quality first and achieved the first product and popularization of the domestic food industry, passed away at the age of 87 on September 12, 2016. A respected businessman who dreamed of a world where we live and share together, and an admirable adult of our time who emptied himself to share with others has passed away, but his spirit, "I hope that we can become a company necessary for humanity. That is our dream, goal, and wish," has been passed down to OTTOGI with an everlasting dream, and consistent wish.
