[WHY] Got milk? Korean universities do.

[YOO YOUNG-RAE]

 
In most countries, people expect to find a university logo on a hoodie or coffee mug. But in Korea, they're just as likely to find it on a carton in any grocery store dairy aisle. 
 
This small aspect of Korean culture has fueled a running joke among college hopefuls — drink Yonsei Milk, for example, and you'll get into Yonsei University. Of course, while the quip is meant to be funny or superstitious more than anything else, it is based on something real: A handful of Korean universities have spent decades running their own dairy businesses and turning their campus names into household grocery brands. 
 

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How long has the university milk business been around?


Yonsei University and Konkuk University are pioneers, having been in operation for over six decades now, and continue to be top players in Korea’s dairy industry.
 
Yonsei University Dairy was born after the global nonprofit Heifer International — then known as Heifer Project — donated 10 cows in 1962, prompting the school to turn roughly 11 acres of grassland near its Sinchon Campus in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, into a pasture.
 
Yonsei University Dairy was established that same year and became the second-oldest dairy brand in Korea, though it did not start selling milk until 1972. Seoul Milk, founded in 1937, is the country's oldest dairy brand. Although many people assume that it is affiliated with Seoul National University, the two actually have no ties. 
 

Milk by Yonsei University Dairy, left, and Konkuk Dairy & Ham [YONSEI UNIVERSITY DAIRY, KONKUK DAIRY & HAM]

 
Konkuk Dairy & Ham’s history began when Konkuk University became the first university in Korea to establish a college of animal science in 1959, which led to it opening a milk research and processing lab. The dairy company was then launched in 1964, two years after its Yonsei counterpart. 
 
Leveraging its advancements in animal husbandry, Konkuk University expanded the business to include ham in 1966.
 
Konkuk University has long taken unabashed pride in its dairy operations. Since the 1970s, the school’s animal science college has hosted milk-chugging contests every year.
 

Students compete in a milk-chugging contest held as part of Konkuk University’s annual spring festival at the university's campus in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on May 16, 2012. The festival also features an exhibition on dairy and meat products. [NEWS1]

 
Not just milk: soy too


Sahmyook University took a different route. In the 1970s, it installed agricultural processing machinery and a factory in the countryside to produce cow's milk — just like any other dairy company. In 1975, the school shifted its focus to soy milk and established Sahmyook Foods in 1982. 
 
Sahmyook’s soy milk gained widespread popularity, especially since it was the first in the business to introduce its signature pouch-style packaging in 1984. The company now offers a multitude of soy milk flavors, including black bean, black sesame, ginger, toffee nut and banana.
 
Seoul National University also began a soy milk venture in 2012, under the brand Bobsnu. Helmed by Lee Ki-won, a food science and biotechnology professor at the university, Bobsnu manufactures its flagship black bean soy milk, along with other products, including supplements, shampoo and chocolate.
 
Yonsei University Dairy and Konkuk Dairy & Ham have also released soy milk lines. Daejeon's Hannam University, a latecomer, joined the bandwagon in 2023.
 

Seoul National University's soy milk, released under the brand Bobsnu [BOBSNU]

 
How successful is the university-run dairy business?


For Yonsei University, dairy is its most lucrative project. The university generated 351.72 billion won ($239.76 million) in revenue from March 2024 to the end of February this year, according to Yonsei's financial statements.
 
The number far exceeds the school’s other income-generating projects. Yonsei University Dairy’s revenue was 10 times higher than that of the university’s next biggest endeavor: commercial property leasing at Yonsei Severance Hospital in Seodaemun District, western Seoul. Severance, one of Korea’s oldest and biggest university hospitals, earned 36.1 billion won in revenue during that same period.
 
Konkuk Dairy & Ham’s dairy sector contributes roughly 170 billion won in revenue each year, the company confirmed to the Korea JoongAng Daily.
 
Sahmyook Foods currently holds the No. 2 market share in the domestic soy milk industry. While the company did not disclose its recent revenue, a 2014 report by Financial News found its 2013 revenue to be 85.69 billion won.
 

A shopper looks at milk at a supermarket in Seoul on Oct. 8. [YONHAP]

 
Since these major players already have a strong presence in Korea, they have naturally set their sights on overseas markets — and China has emerged as a key target. 
 
Yonsei has exported plain milk to China since 2009. In May 2024, it began selling flavored milk in China and sold over 10 million units within a year. The company now exports its milk to 14 regions, including the United States, Vietnam, Mongolia, Singapore, Australia and Kazakhstan.
 
Yonsei and Sahmyook have also won the Chinese section of Brand of the Year, an annual award organized by Korea’s Customers Council. This year marks Sahmyook's 10th consecutive time receiving that honor. Winners are chosen based on the votes of millions of consumers living in China.
 
In the past, more competitors existed in the university dairy market. Toward the end of the 20th century, Sejong University and Yeungnam University reportedly dipped their toes into the milk business, but they have both since quietly disappeared. Yeungnam shut down its milk venture in 2015, citing low sales and issues with inventory management.
 
“Many universities received land donations in the 1960s and '70s, which influenced them to use [the donations] on pastures and launching dairy businesses,” a Ministry of Education official told the Korea JoongAng Daily.
 
“But milk sales have been rough. Many schools have closed their dairy operations and officially converted their pastures into other commercial ventures — commonly parking lots, warehouses or rental properties.”
 

Sahmyook Foods introduced the signature pouch-style packaging for its soy milk in 1984, which is shown here. [SAHMYOOK FOODS]

 
Of all the products they could have chosen, why did universities decide to manufacture milk?


In the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korean War, the country struggled with food shortages and grappled with how to improve public health, as Korea's agricultural productivity was limited, consisting mainly of rice and other grains. Moreover, at the time, milk was widely regarded as a “Western-style source of nutrition.” 
 
In the case of Yonsei and Konkuk, milk offered a symbolic glimmer of hope toward a healthier, more urbanized future for Korea.
 
Yonsei University Prof. Park Byeong-ho had a vision: to develop Korea’s dairy and livestock industry and contribute to Korea’s economic growth. This led him to seek the livestock donation from Heifer International, according to a representative from Yonsei University Dairy.
 
“At the time, Heifer Project was actively providing livestock aid to developing countries to support their self-reliance,” the representative said. “Their support certainly laid the foundation for what would become Yonsei University Dairy today.”
 

Yonsei University's 11 acres of grassland near its Sinchon campus in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, which was turned into a pasture in the 1970s [YONSEI UNIVERSITY DAIRY]

 
Konkuk University has a similar story.
 
“The university’s founder and first president, Yoo Seok-chang, wanted to find a way to help solve nationwide malnutrition, which influenced the establishment of the school's college of animal science,” a Konkuk Dairy & Ham spokesperson said.
 
And the milk business endures for a clear reason: It provides valuable opportunities for academic and scientific research.
 
Konkuk, for example, became the first university in Korea to produce aseptic, low-temperature pasteurized milk in 1965.
 
Yonsei, Konkuk and Sahmyook also operate research institutes or committees comprising experts who conduct studies on quality improvement and new product development, such as lactose-free milk with a higher protein concentration or nonfat milk with natural conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), known to help reduce body fat.
 

Sahmyook Foods' soy milk products [SAHMYOOK FOODS]

 
Why are universities trying to make money?


Universities have long searched for ways to rely less on tuition.
 
Raising tuition is almost impossible in Korea. Not only is it highly discouraged, but the government has also tightened regulations since 2012 by blocking state scholarship support to universities that raise their tuition by any amount.
 
The number of first-year students has also been in steady decline due to Korea's persistent low birthrate problem.
 
And business ventures, once momentum has built, have shown solid returns. Konkuk and Yonsei had the largest income-generating asset portfolios as of May this year, with values estimated at 1.78 trillion won and 1.06 trillion won, respectively, according to a study by the Korean Association of Private University Professors.
 
Yonsei in particular depends less on tuition than other large private universities in Korea. The university's tuition accounted for only 34.9 percent of its entire revenue — a significant feat, considering the average among other private universities has remained in the 50 percent range throughout the 2020s.
 
Meanwhile, universities that do not have as prominent side operations, such as Myongji University, Dankook University and Sangmyung University, saw nearly 70 percent of revenue be derived from tuition alone.
 
Through this study, the private university professors association called for improved financial support for universities. The Education Ministry does not regulate any business operations as long as they aren’t illegal and 80 percent of their net income is given back to the university and used for education or research purposes.
 
“We would rather encourage universities to find diverse ways to create revenue,” a ministry official said.
 

CU's Yonsei Cream Milk Bread, left, and Korea Univ. 1905 pastries went viral among consumers after their release in 2022. [CU]

 
What other university-related foods are there?


Korea University and Yonsei University are rivals in terms of university rankings, academic performance and, not to mention, their annual intercollegiate sports event. 
 
But their most recent competition was over bread. 
 
In 2022, the convenience store chain CU rolled out licensed private brand (PB) pastry lines for each school: first the “Yonsei Cream Milk Bread,” then the “Korea Univ. 1905.”
 
The Yonsei buns gained popularity for their overwhelming amount of cream. Soon, CU launched a plethora of additional flavors, including chocolate, red velvet, melon and sweet potato.
 
The Korea Univ. 1905, named after the university’s founding year, began as an apple jam Danish pastry — afterward with other jam flavors, such as strawberry — and is considered distinctive for the pastry's crisp texture and the vibrant ingredients of the jam, sweet red bean paste and butter.
 
In the first month of their release, Yonsei’s cream buns sold 500,000 units, while Korea’s apple jam pastry sold 200,000. Within six months, both of those figures had reached the millions. Even CU acknowledged them as one of its most successful PB product releases.
 

Mukbang videos on the viral Yonsei Cream Milk Bread were popular during 2022 and 2023. This picture shows Hong Sound, a YouTuber with over 1.85 million subscribers, eating one of the buns in his video. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Before long, each campus's students were competing to buy their school's bread, turning it into a fierce sales race. Compared to bread sales in other Seoul neighborhoods, Korea University’s sales at its Anam campus were a whopping 102.6 times higher from January to April 2023. Yonsei University’s sales were 30 times higher in its Sinchon campus, according to data by CU.
 
While CU continues to release new flavors for Yonsei buns, the Korea Univ. 1905 series is sadly no longer available on shelves.
 
“Like most of our PB products, this one just naturally ran its course,” a CU representative said.
 
 
Have any ventures failed?
 
In 2010, Sogang University introduced a new type of ramyeon, or instant noodles, which was advertised to have significantly fewer calories than others on the market.
 
Named “Plump Smart Noodles” (translated), the product was made through in-house research, specifically the patented supercritical fluid extraction method.
 
The technique cut ramyeon's fat content by more than 70 percent and sodium levels by half. For comparison, a bag of Nongshim's Shin Ramyun is 500 calories, while Sogang's was only about 395.
 
However, the product failed to gain traction due to its price and allegedly lackluster taste. At the time, Shin Ramyun cost 800 won, but Sogang’s was twice as expensive. It eventually vanished from the market.
 

Sogang University's “Plump Smart Noodles″ (translated) ramyeon, which failed due to its price and allegedly lackluster taste [SOGANG UNIVERSITY]

 
Seoul National University has also tasted failure, surprising for a school that is so well-respected in Korea. The school teamed up with food company SPC in 2012 to release “Milk Plus,” which was marketed to have higher content of omega-3 and CLA — and, unfortunately, a higher price as well.
 
Some universities have also faced backlash from the public for being “greedy” and “undermining their role as educational institutions,” such as Masan University in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, which currently operates a supermarket on school-owned land.
 
Consequently, universities continue to be cautious.
 
“Our brand benefits from guaranteeing food safety and expertise through our research and the credibility that comes from being affiliated with a university,” the Konkuk Dairy & Ham spokesperson said.
 
“We aim to quietly prioritize safety and consistency in our work and stay true to our founding spirit.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]