The bet on stores, not on the brand
Zerostore, a South Korean chain of unmanned convenience stores specializing in low-sugar products, has surpassed 230 stores just over two years after opening its first in July 2024. Co-founder and CEO Pyeon Young-min, 30, told the Korea Herald that growth does not depend on the media wave around zero-sugar foods but on a model built around the interests of consumers and store owners.
According to the founder's account, the priority from the outset was to guarantee price advantages, breadth of assortment, and profitability for franchisees, even by giving up much of the central headquarters' distribution margin. In an initial phase lasting between one and one and a half years, that margin was almost reduced to zero, Pyeon said.
Light rules and support after opening
The franchise model described is unusually flexible: Zerostore does not require owners to purchase designated products or use an affiliated in-house installer, and it allows them to source elsewhere if they find better prices. Headquarters instead invests in sustaining the business after opening, with real-time communication, supervision, and marketing campaigns.
Pyeon says many operators who started with a single store later opened additional locations or introduced the brand to acquaintances. In the same period, he added, around 40–50 competing brands were reportedly launched, almost all of which exited the market: according to the founder, general attention focused on expansion without grasping the low initial profitability.
Prudent targets and overseas unknowns
The company now says it is aiming for stable profitability rather than aggressive growth, with a target monthly net profit for owners of between 1.5 and 2.5 million won, without promising exceptional returns. Pyeon also believes demand for low-sugar products is becoming a widespread expectation; however, the sales data cited indicate that meal replacements, including frozen and shelf-stable foods, generate more revenue than beverages.
Zerostore is evaluating its first overseas expansion, after contacts from the United States, Australia, and Europe, which have so far been declined to avoid diverting resources from the domestic market. The stated sticking point is price, because logistics can make products that are cheap in Korea much more expensive abroad, and Mongolia is cited among possible markets. The headquarters' actual accounts and the model's resilience remain to be verified.
