[2025 Seoul National University Holdings Startup CEO] A Local-Based F&B Company Creating a Healthy Bakery & Dessert Brand Made with Rice, ‘HEUNG MANSO’

Park Seungmi, CEO of HEUNG MANSO (Participating Company in the 2025 Eastern Gyeonggi Startup Innovation Space ‘Open Ground’)

-Icheon Rice Cream Bread, Rice Bagels, Rice Ciabatta, Rice Bread Loaves, etc.

-Product development based on Icheon Rice IP, establishing rice dessert classes and educational content.

-Low-gluten design for easier digestion compared to gluten and gluten-free breads.

HEUNG MANSO is a local-based F&B company headquartered in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, dedicated to building a "healthy bakery and dessert brand made with rice." The company aims to become a brand that spreads a healthier and more comfortable dietary culture in daily life by utilizing "rice," the staple food of Korea. It was founded by CEO Park Seungmi (33) in July 2022.

Their flagship items include Icheon Rice Cream Bread, Rice Bagels, Rice Ciabatta, and Rice Bread Loaves. Going beyond simple product sales, they are building a "Rice Lifestyle Brand" by expanding into product development based on Icheon Rice IP, rice dessert classes and educational content, and collaboration programs with local farms.

HEUNG MANSO's competitive edge lies in its low-gluten design, which is easier to digest than gluten, and its gluten-free breads. A key point is that it uses "rice-based carbohydrates," which best suit the Korean diet. Additionally, story-telling based on local farms and the "Imgeumnimpyo" (King's Brand) Icheon Rice IP is possible, and the product quality has been verified across both online and offline channels. Over three years, they have accumulated more than 100 R&D-based recipes.

HEUNG MANSO is pioneering sales channels through various routes. "We are operating a 300-pyeong (approx. 990 sq. meters) flagship store and participating in pop-up stores and local festivals. Online, we are conducting performance marketing centered on Smart Store, our own website, and Instagram viral marketing. Through B2B cooperation, we are supplying rice bagels to The Venti and providing catering services to Pulmuone, CJ, and Samsung Welstory. Recently, we conducted our first bread meal service for schools in the Icheon area. We plan to prepare for exports to the U.S., Singapore, and China soon."

HEUNG MANSO received its first investment this year. Although the scale is small, they plan to achieve solid strategic and financial growth by challenging TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup) and LIPS programs later.

How did CEO Park come to start this business? "While working as a convenience store supervisor, I realized that unlike wheat, which is consumed daily, rice consumption was declining in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, my husband's hometown. Later, while running a locally-based cafe in Icheon, I thought that creating and selling products made with rice was necessary to develop high added value. This led me to develop gluten-free Icheon Rice Cream Bread with chewy rice grains. What started as a small movement from the question, 'Can we make delicious bread even while reducing flour?' grew from a cafe into a brand that entered Galleria Department Store and other department stores. The initial funding was raised through severance pay and loans."

Regarding her experience after founding the company, CEO Park said, "I feel a great sense of reward when I meet customers who travel all the way to Icheon from across the country, or when I receive thank-you messages from customers with wheat allergies. I also feel rewarded by contributing to the promotion of rice consumption and increasing farm revenue, and by becoming a brand that grows together with local youth and the community."

At HEUNG MANSO, CEO Park is in charge of branding, strategy, and IR, while Director Choi Sang-woo handles QC, factory communication, and B2B sales. In addition, there are store operation teams and online/marketing teams, and they have established a collaboration system with external partners (manufacturing, design, video).

Regarding future plans, CEO Park stated, "We plan to build a 'Rice Platform' with sales of 3 billion KRW in 2026 and 6 billion KRW by 2028. We aim to strengthen our rice-based HMR (Home Meal Replacement) and snack lines and target regular store openings at The Hyundai Seoul and major department store pop-ups."

She added, "We will proceed with global exports centered on the U.S. and Singapore and expand the local-based 'Rice Dessert Festival.' We will also expand franchises that collaborate with farms, centered around direct management stores."

Establishment Date : July 2022
Main Business : Development and distribution of rice bread and rice desserts, Local F&B, Educational Content
Achievements : Annual sales of 700 million KRW (2024), Target of 1 billion KRW (2025), Collaboration with approx. 30 Icheon rice farms, 2,500 visitors to the 2024 Rice Dessert Festival, Sales of 300 million KRW, Over 40 nationwide pop-ups/collaborations, Preparing for export to the U.S., China, and Singapore.

reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com