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GS Global CEO Kim Seong-won (center) and students pose for a commemorative photo. / GS Global

GS Global has joined forces with students from four universities to analyze market trends from the perspective of young consumers.

The company announced on July 2nd that it conducted a program on May 28th to discover new business ideas in the F&B and beauty sectors, collaborating with students from consulting clubs at four universities: Sogang University, Kyung Hee University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and Duksung Women's University. A total of 32 students across seven teams participated in this program.

For the F&B sector, the task was to create a new business model utilizing the global trading capabilities of a general trading company. For the beauty sector, the challenge was to develop a business model combining aesthetics and cosmetics. The students proposed various ideas, including exporting processed domestic matcha to North America, importing Vietnamese food ingredients, and launching a home beauty device subscription service targeting the Japanese D2C market.

This program is an extension of the open innovation initiative pursued at the group level, which involves both internal and external members of the organization identifying and solving problems together. The purpose was to ensure that external ideas are not treated as a one-off event but are integrated into the actual business review system to assess their commercial viability.

CEO Kim Sung-won stated that industry-academia cooperation, where companies and universities discover future growth engines together, is crucial. He added that the combination of a company's business experience and network with the analytical skills and fresh perspectives of college students created a meaningful platform for exchange.

GS Global has selected four outstanding participants and is currently running a follow-up internship program. During their summer vacation in July and August, these interns are gaining practical experience in the F&B and beauty sectors by performing tasks to review new businesses, such as analyzing market sizes, researching import-export data, and conducting value chain analyses. Through this initiative, the company aims to strengthen its capabilities in driving new businesses while establishing a virtuous cycle for early talent discovery.

An official from GS Global remarked that future growth engines start from diverse perspectives and new ideas. The official added that the company will continue to uncover new business opportunities by combining the creative viewpoints of college students with GS Global's global business capabilities, while further expanding open innovation based on industry-academia cooperation.

                                                                                                             Kim Young-jin