After living in Italy, Sung Jin decided to return to South Korea and share his love for coffee
Sung Jin is waiting for me with a delicious espresso to try in his shop where he sells Italian coffee in the Gangnam area, I haven’t had one for a while!
“I was born in Seoul 28 years ago and when I was 8 I moved with the whole family to Italy, to Como. This was where we had our suppliers of Italian products that at that time we exported to South Korea.
Living in a new country was not very easy for me at first, the cultural difference was quite big and I really missed South Korea, but then I started to appreciate my new home more and more until I fell deeply in love with the country.
I attended primary school there and then continued with middle and high school at an international institute in Switzerland, it didn’t take long from my home, which was close to the border. I grew up in a small town where there was no Korean community, I was the only Asian among my friends. This was good because it pushed me to socialize with people born in Italy by learning about their culture and lifestyle, my friends were mostly locals.” I noticed, traveling and living in different countries, that often the expats who reside and work abroad tend to be among people of their own nation, both for cultural and practical reasons. It happens that groups close in on themselves, among themselves and they don’t come into contact, if not in small part, with the local population and their habits and customs. An opportunity to be positively influenced by the host nation that is wasted. Fortunately, Sung Jin managed to avoid this obstacle.
“I then continued my studies in London and Madrid, where I graduated in copywriting. I finished at the IED with a master in Brand Management and Communication in Italy, where I also had to study the Italian language again because I was abroad and I forgot it a little…!
But I certainly hadn’t forgotten my passion for the Mediterranean peninsula, with its beautiful places to explore and where to travel, the delicious food that enchanted me, the excellent wine, the elegant and beautiful clothes and the people who I always liked a lot. The only problem is the overpriced gasoline … “He laughs remembering how much the price of fuel is far more expensive than here in South Korea.” I had a lot of fun being with my friends in Italy, who now I miss a lot. We used to go to eat and drink good wine or enjoy an aperitif, often we all went together for a few days to some beautiful place by the lake or by the sea. Which here is more complicated as people don’t have much time because everyone is very busy with their work. Furthermore, few know and fully appreciate wine, totally different than when I was with my Italian friends.”
“I miss Italy, but not its exaggerated taxes and fines” he tells me laughing. “I’ve been back to Seoul for about a year and, for now, I want to stay here focusing on developing my new store: the Capsule Outlet. I want more and more Korean customers to enjoy the delicious Italian coffee we offer.
I work here with my brother, who had the idea of distributing this product. Sometimes our mother helps us, as we are open every day of the week.
The items we have in the shop are all handcrafted and of excellent quality, coming from different roasting companies scattered throughout Italy. The coffee is in capsules that we sell at reasonable prices, especially compared to how much coffee costs here in South Korea.” The prices of coffee are high here on the Korean peninsula, we are talking about at least double (if not much more) than what you could pay in Italy or in other countries, and often the quality found in the products of large multinational franchise coffee shops, scattered everywhere and where most people usually consume coffee, is not comparable to that of the best artisan product sold elsewhere.
“I’m happy, people are starting to appreciate our espresso. The capsules represent an excellent solution in terms of quality and above all costs. My customers are often surprised once they notice how cheap our items are, they don’t expect it and are happy to save, which leads them to buy more. But this in my opinion is “the real price of coffee” or how much it must be paid. Some are not entirely sure that the product can be good because here in South Korea we often think that the more expensive it is, the better it is … if it’s too cheap people don’t trust much and turn up their noses.” Korean culture can be quite rigid and closed in its patterns and beliefs. “But once they have tasted our artisan coffee, customers come back to buy it again and often bring their friends to the shop, luckily they understand that the quality is excellent! Our coffee is encapsulated when the powder is still warm, this type of production allows us to maintain all the freshness and aroma, they are not coffees from large multinationals but come from small high-quality companies of Italian entrepreneurs.”
Sung Jin is in love with the taste of a good espresso but also with the refinements he tasted while eating excellent food abroad, especially in Italy and Spain. Probably what interests him most is the quality, which he tries to keep intact and faithful to the original. “I’ve always been interested in genuine tastes, I would like to recreate the authentic and original flavors of the foods I have tasted and loved elsewhere, especially in restaurants in Italy and Spain. I am fascinated by molecular creative gastronomy, in fact, another project that we are carrying out with my family is the opening of a creative cuisine restaurant, innovative and unique of its kind here in Seoul, we will have in the kitchen an important and renowned Spanish chef from Toledo. An experience that I want to bring here to South Korea, and that I am interested in letting my co-nationals try it in its most authentic version.”
“Soon we will also start selling the machines produced in Italy to make coffee in capsules so that they can enjoy it comfortably at home or in the office without always having to go out and find a coffee shop.
This is a business that we have just started, we opened last summer, just a few months ago. We keep on learning how to manage and improve the shop and having new ideas and strategies on how to promote the Italian product here in South Korea. I want to share my passion with the Korean people, to appreciate and above all to fully understand what is the true taste of Italian coffee, but also to let people know what the real prices of the product are, as we often overpaid it here in my country.
My dream is to fill homes and offices throughout South Korea with real Italian espresso! I strongly believe in this project and in this dream, and little by little people are starting to appreciate the true taste of Italian espresso. I would also like to organize a coffee festival here in Seoul. ” Sung Jin jokingly adds “We need to convert those who love American coffee and Starbucks. It’s a tough job!”
Capsule Outlet, Sung Jin’s shop, is located in Gangnam in Seoul.
Here is his website: 캡슐아울렛.com
Follow him on Instagram: @capsuleoutlet
