Seoul Milk sets new standards in keeping dairy products fresh.

By Kang Seung-woo
Staff reporter

Seoul Milk has led the industry with a variety of high-quality products for more than 70 years.

And the nation's oldest and biggest dairy producer is not content with its title, as it continues its efforts to offer the best and freshest products to customers with the introduction of the production date.

Seoul Milk became the first dairy producer last July to voluntarily label the production date on its milk cartons after recognizing that customers consider freshness as their prime concern when purchasing milk.

The country's current food safety law requires food makers to reveal either the production or expiration date of products, which often leads consumers to question how long the products have been sitting on store shelves.

Disclosing both dates helps consumers to select fresher milk on a relative basis.

In order to establish the system of using both dates on the cartons, the producer has gone through innovation and change in the process of circulation, which enables the company to deliver products once manufactured and to produce milk on order.

Seoul Milk's decision to put both dates on its milk cartons seems to be drawing positive reviews from customers.

Since implementing the labeling policy, the company has sold 10 million more cartons per day.

In terms of sales, it saw a sharp increase, as it posted a 16.3 percent growth from 1.29 trillion won ($1.06 billion) in 2008 to 1.5 trillion in 2009.

Seoul Milk, which has been steady in the first half of this year, sold more than 10 million won of milk cartons for the fourth straight day in June, which is believed to be proof that its implementation of the new system meets the need of consumers.

Ahead of enforcing the labeling policy, Seoul Milk, founded in 1937, devoted itself to improve the quality of their products as the industry leader.

In 1984, it introduced "Cold Chain System," which keeps milk at the proper temperature at all stages from production to distribution to consumers.

Its entire product line was awarded the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification.

The HACCP is a regulation of safety in food production and pharmaceuticals used to ensure proper procedure when producing products.