A Bowl of Blessing — South Korea’s Bonjuk

Book Review: Not Giving Up (Trans. Original in Korean, Translated into Chinese), 2017

By Bok Yi Choi 

The word Bon, in Hanja[1], is first, the character for “man” over a “cross,” then furthermore a “cross” below.  Overall, it is an imagery of a man bearing a cross below a big cross. 

There was something indelible about this porridge.  It was capable of conveying its taste by its looks.  Ms Bok Yi Choi pointed at the picture, “what do you think of this porridge?  This is our seafood item.”  The audience stirred.  There was consensus that this porridge was delicious, without having eaten it.   For the next hour or so, we would be savoring Bok Yi Choi’s story of entrepreneurship.

Fusing Faith with Entrepreneurship

Porridge, to Bok Yi, was a weakness of the enterprise.  It is a kind of food that people associate with poverty and sickness.  Furthermore, it cannot be sold for a high price.  It is labor intensive to make good porridge, and yet, before Bonjuk became Korea’s premier brand of national food, people would not pay very much for it.

There were many failed attempts in starting a business before Bok Yi finally set up the very successful Bonjuk enterprise.  In the early years of her marriage, she and her husband failed in their first publishing business.  They ended up selling buns on the street as hawkers, mired in debt and poverty.  For many times, they were chased down by the police, who confiscated their pushing carts.

Her husband later established a very successful chain name in beauty and skincare products.  For a period of time, the family enjoyed immense wealth.  That all changed in the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis.  Her husband went bankrupt.  The family was back to a life of making ends meet.

During those difficult years, Bok Yi went through severe depression.  It was with the Christian faith that she experienced healing.  When she was poor, she met many who were also poor.  For 500 won, she made poor children the biggest bun she could, two times what was in the market.  This was her witness of God to the poor.  She told God that there was no waiting for the day that she became successful in order to be charitable.  She would witness God even in the ebbs of life.  The Lord powered her faith with reminders of the golden Biblical principle: it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Thus sown in her heart were the seeds of charity.  God’s love continued to guide her.

Bonjuk’s Humble Beginning

In seeking the first venue for Bonjuk, Bok Yi could only afford a place on the second floor in a rather run-down neighborhood.  Besides the fact that the three previous owners all failed in their business there, this first store was a classic horror story.  When Bok Yi first opened the fridge in the kitchen, hundreds of cockroaches raced out.  Her mother, who would pray for anything, was so horrified that she found no words possible to pray at that moment.  To Bok Yi, this first store of Bonjuk was God’s training for her.  It was the toughest condition to start a business, and she passed God’s alpha training course.

In Bonjuk’s first day, the family of seven worked a whole day, but selling only ten bowls of porridge.  They prayed, having full faith in Jesus’ promise that “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26).  They dressed up in suits to hand out their flyers.  Seeing that they were so respectful in handing out flyers, people received the flyers with both hands.

Success: A Good Problem

Bok Yi told us that some of the first women who frequented her restaurant wanted to eat porridge because they were on diet.  With keen effort to advertise, Bonjuk began to attract many customers.

As business became better, Bok Yi had a problem.  Each day they could handle only about forty to fifty bowls of porridge.  She insisted that each bowl must be made to order, and each customer could ask for different ingredients in the porridge.

When there were thirty to forty customers during lunch hour, after the twentieth bowl the customers started leaving.  They could not wait any longer.  Even when the business had turned around, Bok Yi thought of giving up because her operation model did not seem to be able to meet higher demand.

Bonjuk’s good name spread.   In the seventh month, people were lining up along the staircase for a seat at the table.  Before long, the television station came for interviews.  Two lines formed at her business.  One was for the food itself, the other line was for people who were looking for a chance to open a franchise store for Bonjuk.

The Lord fully showed Himself through in Bonjuk’s success.  Bonjuk flourished in the following years.  There are now more than 1,700 stores.  The enterprise has also extended its business abroad in many international locations.

A Three-Prong Mission

Now, Bonjuk has blossomed into three prongs of enterprising work.  First is the Bonjuk Corporation, which sells porridge in-store and also premade, packaged porridge in the convenient stores.  Then there is Bon Love, which stands for the principle of Christian charity.  It focuses upon charitable initiatives all over the world.  Finally, there is Bon Mission, which is Bok Yi’s faith in action.  It dedicates itself to the Christian idea of Business as Mission.  On one hand, Bon Mission provides care and accommodation for returning missionaries in Korea.  On the other hand, Bon Mission builds seminaries in other parts of the world.

Sources:

A Talk by Bok Yi Choi, 2018, Hong Kong.

Bok Yi Choi, Not Giving Up (Trans. Original in Korean, Translated into Chinese), 2017.

[1] Hangja is the Korean name for Chinese characters used in the Korean language.