Big brands, local roots: collaboration cases showcased at Jeju startup festa
Ottogi teams up with Sukseongdo, Gyulmedal and others on co-developed menus
Blackyak commercializes eco-friendly products with Jeju firm Jeckline
Experts say one-off events must give way to lasting sales channels and growth
![Park Seong-pil, head of brand experience at Ottogi, presents collaboration cases at the 2026 Local Startup Festa in Jeju, held at Sheraton Hotel Jeju on Friday. [Korea Small Business and Market Service]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/11/06/news-p.v1.20261106.32f001335d4846058e05f8e96b1b0a4d_P1.jpg)
Jeju black pork and fermented anchovy sauce are now finding their way into Ottogi ramyun, while outdoor brand Blackyak has woven eco-friendly technology from a Jeju startup into its products. Major South Korean companies are joining forces with local Jeju businesses to launch new products and services, combining the island's distinctive resources with the distribution networks and technical capabilities of large corporations.
At the 2026 Local Startup Festa in Jeju, held Friday morning on the island, Ottogi and BYN Blackyak Group were among the companies that shared their collaboration experiences with Jeju local businesses and discussed ways to sustain the partnerships.
Park Seong-pil, head of brand experience at Ottogi, took the stage to walk through a range of the company's tie-ups with Jeju local brands.
A standout example was the partnership with Sukseongdo, a Jeju black pork restaurant. Ottogi developed co-branded menu items that fused the island's culinary identity — Jeju black pork and meljeot, a local fermented anchovy condiment — with its own products. The resulting lineup included a black pork-based "Jjaseulaeng" dish and a rice bowl topped with Jeju meljeot sauce, menus available exclusively in Jeju.
With Gyulmedal, a Jeju tangerine brand, Ottogi co-hosted an exhibition, providing the display space free of charge and jointly developing tangerine-based menu items. The collaboration was documented as content and promoted through Ottogi's online channels and SNS.
A partnership with a local twisted doughnut shop yielded three new menu items using Ottogi curry. Ottogi also sold menus combining local Jeju ingredients with its products at various stores within the island's local commercial districts.
Through these collaborations, Ottogi offers local businesses free exhibition space and promotional opportunities. The company uses its own venues — "Rolly Polly Cotto" and a cooking class space called "O'Kitchen Studio" — to introduce Jeju brands to consumers in Seoul.
"What matters more than the size of the company is that the collaboration makes intuitive sense to consumers," Park said. "The ingredients and the story need to be rooted in Jeju for consumers to immediately understand why Ottogi is working with that particular business."
Ottogi also operates its own Jeju-focused product line, "Jejudameum," which develops items using local ingredients such as Jeju black pork and green tangerines. The products are sold through duty-free stores and souvenir shops on the island as well as through online retail channels.
Blackyak teams up with Jeju local firm on eco-friendly products
Outdoor brand Blackyak has also been deepening its ties with Jeju local businesses. BYN Blackyak Group presented its collaboration with Jeckline, a Jeju company that produces eco-friendly yarn. The two sides pursued the partnership on the shared goal of incorporating sustainable materials into products.
The collaboration resulted in commercialized products, and the two companies continue to work together. Blackyak said the most important factor in partnering with a local business is alignment in values between the two brands.
Seong Ho, a deputy manager at BYN Blackyak Group, said the core values Blackyak holds — technology, environmental sustainability and safety — must align with the philosophy of any local partner. "A local business needs to have a regional distinctiveness and differentiated competitiveness that is uniquely its own," Seong said. "Only then can the collaboration translate into stronger brand value and sales growth."
Blackyak plans to expand its local-business collaborations beyond apparel to a wider range of product categories, including gear and footwear.
'Collaboration can't end after one event': experts stress local firms' self-sufficiency
Participants at the event also called for collaborations between large corporations and local businesses to move beyond one-off events and translate into real sales growth and sustained development.
"When a collaboration ends after a single event, it is less a matter of lacking will and more a matter of lacking the structure to continue afterward," Park said. "Sustainable collaboration requires the backing of sales channels and operational spaces — only then can it lead to second and third rounds of partnership."
Park added that it is better for both sides to start small, gauge consumer response through limited experiments and then scale up in areas that show results, rather than launching a large-scale collaboration from the outset.
The need for policy support to strengthen local businesses' ability to sustain themselves was also raised. Son Seol, brand director at ABT, said companies sometimes lose their footing even after winning government support, spending their energy chasing the next grant program. "What is needed is a structure that provides continuous support until a company can grow on its own — not just a single event or short-term assistance," Son said.
Panelists also stressed that partnering with a large corporation or major platform does not automatically guarantee a sales increase. Local businesses, they said, must build competitive products and a compelling brand story, and be clear about the value they can offer a potential partner.
On the role of local governments, Park said Jeju's seasonal ingredients have such distinct characteristics that annual event schedules should be set well in advance to allow companies time to prepare for collaborations. "Support that connects businesses with sales outlets and operational spaces would make a significant difference," Park said.
boo@heraldcorp.com
